Sand In Your Eye Full Story
by PhunkyNinja
Summary: A story about Gaara's realisation of love. Based around the one shot I created. Gaaraxoc. Full summary inside. Any helpful comments would be great :
1. Chapter 1

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my OC.

Author's note: I wasn't sure whether this story seemed to far fetch.

Summary: 3 Konoha ninja's have been sent to Suna to help improve on the medical, logistical and strength of the ninja's in Suna to strengthen the alliance between Konoha and Suna. Gaara, the Kazekage soon realises that 1 of them brings more to him than anyone ever could.

Chapter 1- Paperwork

"_I'll aim to be Kazekage and live a life connected to my village" (Naruto Shippuden)_

Gaara, the Kazekage of the village hidden in sand stood on his balcony staring out upon his home that had once been his living nightmare. For 3 years he had served as the Kazekage, the strongest of the sand ninja and not once regretted taking on the duties that came with it, except for the paper work. He had decided that today was the day he would finish all of his paper, mountains of it sitting on his desk, awaiting his hand to grace them. He stared at his desk, wishing that it would just fly away. Unfortunately for him, some of it did. As he sat down to begin the endless hours of writing, a strong wind blew through the window and knocked his work off the desk, spreading them across the floor, some even followed the wind back out of the window. He looked with his usual blank stare at the mess before him.

_Great, now I have to clear it up._

As he bent down to pick up the pieces of paper there was a knock at the door and before he could say anything a woman walked in.

"Kazekage-sama I have more papers from the council that need your signature and WHAT HAPPENED?"

She looked down and saw the Kazekage on his hands and knees picking up papers that she had organised that morning.

"I'm sorry I know you organised this, this morning, there was a strong wind" said Gaara not once looking at, what he had recognised from her voice, his secretary. A small blush crept across her cheek.

_He noticed I had organised them!_

"Oh no worries, Kazekage-sama, I'll help you pick them up"

Her name was Matsuri, who had once been Gaara's student and had now become his secretary. As they picked up the papers her blush deepened after realising how close they were to each other. It was obvious to everyone around her that she had grown very fond of the Kazekage, everyone except him of course and she was determined to show him. Ever since he had asked her personally to be his secretary, she had promised herself that she would one day tell him about her feelings, but until then, she would help him in any way she could.

"The Ninja's from Konoha are here, Shikamaru-san and Sakura-chan are downstairs waiting, one of them is being taken on a tour because she's never been here before" stated Matsuri.

"Thank you Matsuri, inform them that I will be down shortly" answered Gaara as he turned to finish off his paper. Matsuri turned to leave the office with the small blush still glued to her face.

_**30 minutes before.**_

"Hello! Welcome to Suna" shouted Kankuro and Temari. Kankuro with arms spread wide, running towards one of the Konoha ninja.

"As if" shouted the pink haired shinobi as she smacked him around the head.

"Hm, troublesome. We have been here before, well except for Rei" spoke the lazy ninja. "Kankuro, Temari, this is Rei"

"It's nice to meet you" said the short brunette bowing to her hosts.

"You're short for an 18 year old" Kankuro said to his own demise.

"DON'T BE RUDE" Temari shouted shortly followed by a harsh hit to the head.

"It's okay, I get it all the time" said Rei.

"Well I hope you enjoy your stay, would you like a tour? Gaara has got mounds of paperwork to do so he probably won't be out of his office for quite a while" spoke Temari.

Shikamaru and Sakura had seen it all before so they headed towards the Kazekage tower and decided to wait there, Rei on the other hand couldn't wait to see Suna.

"I'd love one!" exclaimed Rei.

"Cool well-

-if you'd like to follow- OW!"

"Don't interrupt! I'm giving her the tour, you can escort Sakura and Shikamaru to the tower and offer them a drink" said Temari as she hit Kankuro again causing him a lot of pain.

As Sakura and Shikamaru started walking, Kankuro wobbling around, clutching his head following behind, Temari and Rei set off on the tour. Rei had never seen Suna before and was fascinated at how different it was to Konoha, Suna had a slower rhythm than Konoha, but it was more peaceful, it felt softer because there were no bustles of crowds, no need to be somewhere in a rush. As they walked past shops and homes, Rei couldn't help but smile at everything around her. Everyone seemed content.

"Everyone seems so happy, for no reason. It's weird, people in Konoha are happy but there's always a reason behind it, but here, it just seems natural, your Kazekage must be a good leader" said Rei still taking in the sights and people around her. Temari stared at her with a confused expression, shocked at her words.

"What?" spoke Rei, confused at why Temari was confused.

"Your weird, most people don't like Suna when they come here" explained Temari, "There not use to the heat and think it's a dull place because of the lack in colour"

"Not dull, just different and people don't understand things that are different, but to be honest, the point about the heat is a fair one, I mean, this must be one of the only places where the sun feels hot- no wait I said that wrong, what I mean…" replied Rei trying to correct herself.

Temari just stood and laughed at the ninja in front of her. _She's weird. _"Come on, let's head to the tower, Gaara should be ready by now"

As they passed the tower, a strong wind blew.

"Ow!" cried out Rei.

"What's wrong?" asked Temari.

"I got sand in my eye! Why doesn't anyone here wear goggles?" Temari laughed and continued walking towards the door of the tower. As Rei tried to cry the sand out of her eye, pieces of paper were falling around her. She looked up at the sky, perplexed by the sudden shower of paper.

_Does that normally happen here?_

Then she noticed the window.

_That would make more sense._

She stared at the paper around her.

_The Kazekage can wait; I should return them to their owner. _


	2. Chapter 2

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my OC.

Chapter 2- Weird

Summary: Rei has made it her mission to return the papers to their owner however the consequences are not what she expects.

"HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO FILL IN A FEW FORMS? IT'S BEEN NEARLY AN HOUR!" shouted an angry Sakura, pulling at her bangs.

"Calm down Sakura, shouting about it isn't going to make it happen any quicker" said Shikamaru, attempting to calm the frustrated shinobi. His voice may have sounded calm however his facial expression betrayed him, for even he began to feel irritated.

_Troublesome. How much paperwork did he have to do?_

All four shinobi had no choice but to continue waiting.

"Where did Rei go?" asked Kankuro.

"She said she was hit with a shower of paper and insisted on finding its owner, I offered to take them but she said that she made it her mission to find that person" explained Temari.

"She's weird" said Kankuro, Shikamaru and Sakura couldn't help but giggle at their comrade.

_**Outside the Kazekage's office**_

_Well, if this room has a window, then it must be whoever is in there, I hope._

Rei raised her hand and lightly knocked on the door, holding the papers in the other hand. Silence. She knocked again, a little louder. Silence. She pressed her ear against the door and could hear light sounds of scratching. Someone was in there.

_THAT PERSON'S IGNORING ME! Unless it's a cat._

Rei decided that whoever was in there would get 1 last chance. She knocked again with a little more oomph. Silence.

_THAT'S IT!_

Rei stepped back, ready to barge through the door, however as she began her short run up the person inside opened the door and the inevitable happened. Unable to stop herself she landed straight on top of the person, in a rather compromising position. She looked down at the figure before her, locking gaze, she couldn't help but be encapsulated by the teal eyes before her, which contrasted with his fire red hair. However, before the blush could sneak across her cheek, she noticed a bit of paper lying under his head. Unfortunately for Rei, everyone had come running at the sound of the crash. Outside the door: Shikamaru, Sakura, Temari, Kankuro and Matsuri, stood confused at the sight before them.

"Oh! I'm sorry I just- eh- well I wanted- it- it- NOTHING HAPPENED, I FELL OVER AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR HIM, HE TURNED INTO MY LANDING ZONE" shouted Rei, the red blush now devouring her face.

Kankuro couldn't help but laugh out loud; Sakura and Shikamaru showed a little bit more decorum and kept their laughter to a small chuckle. Temari on the other hand looked at Matsuri, whose face now resembled that of a nasty pit-bull.

Matsuri rushed past Rei to help Gaara up but he ignored her and stood up on his own accord, dazed and confused at what had just happened. Rei on the other hand bent back down to the floor to pick up the, once again, fallen papers. She stood up and headed towards the window, too embarrassed to look at everyone, especially the man she had just fallen on.

"Hm, looks about right, distance between the ground and the window, and the incredible amount of paper already situated on the table would suggest that these papers belong to you" explained Rei, as she handed the man she had fallen on the papers.

"I was only returning them to you" she said, not being able to look directly at him. Gaara stared at her, shocked at what he had seen. The brunette before him, wearing a baggy red t-shirt, braces and black jogging bottoms only wanted to give the papers back to him.

_Hm._

"Have you finished your paperwork Kazekage-sama?" asked Matsuri, blocking Gaara's view from the brunette.

_Hm, Kazekage-sama…WHAT? _"KAZEKAGE? WAIT YOU'RE THE- BUT- AND I FELL ON- BUT YOUR- oh god Rei you can add that to your list of embarrassing moments" shouted Rei, confused at what she had just heard. She looked over at the young man and realised what he was wearing.

_The Kazekage robes, how could I have not noticed?_

Matsuri stared at her in anger. _How dare she shout like that in front of Gaara-kun!_

"My apologises Kazekage-sama" interrupted Shikamaru. Gaara merely nodded, looking back at the short brunette who had made a fool out of herself in front of him.

_Weird._

"I had just finished but since these have been given back to me, I would like to finish them off" said Gaara as he took his seat.

"Hai Kazekage-sama" said all except Rei. They all then began to file out of the door: Kankuro still chuckling at what had just happened, Sakura, angry because she now has to wait again and Matsuri, staring angrily at the new ninja.

Rei stood and stared at the man she had fallen on still trying to recover from the whole event.

"Is there something else?" Gaara asked not looking at the young woman.

"Oh-eh-no" replied Rei as she headed out of the door, but before she could reach it, she had noticed a piece of paper that had slipped under a book shelf. She picked it up and handed it back to the Kazekage. Gaara remained silent, trying not to glance at her. As he proceeded out of the door, she turned back.

"Don't take too long" she said and left the room

Gaara looked up at the door, recalling the events in his head.

_Interesting._


	3. Chapter 3

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Chapter 3- Deceiving Appearances

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Formal introductions. (This chapter isn't very exciting)

After the incident, Matsuri returned to work and the other 5 walked back downstairs to wait for Gaara to finish. Shikamaru and Temari sat in, what they wished, was silence, however Kankuro and Sakura were prodding Rei with embarrassing questions. Rei kept her head down, not wanting to fall into their interrogation. She sat near the window and after a while allowed her mind to wander. She traced her finger along the window, following the patterns the sand made in the wind, the swirls and spirals that twisted and turned. _Strangely beautiful. _She soon found herself thinking about those teal eyes. _Such loneliness. _They were like a deep pool of lost emotion, not matter how far you swim down, you could never reach the bottom. _I'm sure any woman would gladly drown in them though._

"Why are you blushing? Oh your thinking about him aren't you?" teased Sakura, poking a shocked Rei in the shoulder, shocked to feel the slight heat on her cheeks.

"No! I was thinking about food, I'm hungry" replied Rei. Sakura fell off her chair in shock.

"Just like Naruto, knowing you that's probably true" said Sakura whilst receiving Rei's victory smile.

_Troublesome._

Suddenly Matsuri walked through the door.

"The Kazekage will see you now" said Matsuri, her eyes scanning the room for the new ninja, finding her idly sitting by the window.

_Weirdo!_

"Finally!" exclaimed Kankuro and Sakura.

"Don't be rude! Gaara-kun may work at any pace he wishes, he is the Kazekage!" shouted Matsuri causing Sakura and Kankuro to quake in their shoes. It was clear to Temari that she was still flustered and angry about the incident.

_Gaara-kun? _

Rei reluctantly stood from her seat and began to follow the others out of the room.

_Well, I just hope I don't embarrass myself…again._

_**In the Kazekage's office**_

"Kazekage-sama, this is Rei, she specialises in fire ninjutsus and will be here to help improve the strength in the younger ninja's of your village" said Shikamaru.

Gaara looked at the brunette who stood in a formal manner.

"You don't have a second name?" asked Gaara, curious at why.

"No sir" replied Rei, keeping her response formal, not looking Gaara in the eye, even though; she had to admit to herself, not many people notice.

_I wonder why…_

"I'm sure you will all do a fine job, I apologise for the delay" said Gaara. Rei, whilst trying to keep herself formal, couldn't help but blush. Unfortunately for Rei, Matsuri noticed.

"Temari, Kankuro, show them to their rooms, whilst you are here you will stay under my protection" informed Gaara.

"Protection?" asked Sakura.

Gaara nodded. "It may not seem like it but I have to assume that there will be villagers who are bitter towards you. They don't like the idea of Konoha coming to our aid".

"But what about the alliance, I mean it's been 5 years" said Sakura.

"You may say that as a group an alliance is strong, however, you cannot, no matter what you do, change the heart of the individual" said Rei looking out of the window. Gaara looked at her in surprise, she was smarter than she seemed.

_Appearances can be deceiving._

Temari and Kankuro lead the Konoha ninja's to their new rooms. Matsuri remained with Gaara, hoping to have some 'alone time' with him, but she that it would be short lived. Matsuri was about to speak but, to her disappointment, was cut off my Gaara.

"Is that all that needs to be done?" asked Gaara.

"Eh-hm-yes" she said in discontent.

"If you haven't got any more work to do, then you can leave also" said Gaara turning towards his window.

"Have a nice evening" said Matsuri as she left the room.

_Maybe some other time._

As Gaara stared out of the window he began to think about tomorrow, wondering how the children would react to such a strange human.

_Rei_

As he got up to leave his office a small smile slunk onto his face.

_This should be an interesting mission._


	4. Chapter 4

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Summary: It's the first night in Suna and Rei can't sleep, followed by the morning after.

Chapter 4- First Night

The night's air was hot and Rei was beginning to sweat in her bed. _I'm going to have to get use to this. _She felt as if she had been staring at the white ceiling for hours however when she checked the time it had only been 30minutes, this frustrated her. She curved and turned the bed sheets into many distorted designs until she had had enough. _Taking off clothes doesn't even help. _She shot up from her bed and headed towards the window. _I don't know how, but maybe a walk would help. _So as not to disturb anyone sleeping, she leapt from the window onto the next roof top. All of a sudden a cool wind hit her and she felt like she was in heaven. _This really was a good idea! _In her shorts and baggy shirt, she jumped from roof to roof trying to find a good spot to rest. It was through this that she discovered that most of the roofs were exactly the same. _How do you decide on a good spot when all are the same?_ She decided to go back to the tower and sit there, so as not to get lost. As she looked up at the night sky, she was taken in by the stars above her. _This is much more interesting than the ceiling. _The stars seemed so beautiful; the gentle glows they admitted contained a sense of peace. Along with the soft music of the wind, she felt at ease. She eventually lost all track of time and fell into a calm sleep.

Gaara, who had awoken early from his sleep, headed for the roof. Even though the demon had been removed, he still found that his sleeping pattern was unpredictable, as if his body was still trying to work out its clock. Some nights where good, some weren't. When he reached the roof, he had soon discovered that he was not alone. For lying near the edge, the weird ninja he had met was sleeping peacefully. _Why is she up here? _He decided to take her back to her room. He tried to lift her without waking her, however to his surprise, when he had gotten her into a comfortable position in his arms; she turned subconsciously and held onto his t-shirt, tucking her head into his chest. He blushed at the sight before him, his eyes captured by the small girl. In one swift movement, he jumped off the roof and headed straight for her room. Once inside he laid her on the bed, still trying not to wake her. She let go of him which caused a sense of sadness to fall upon him. He then returned to his spot on the roof.

_**In the morning**_

As Rei began to rise at the feel of morning's radiance, she was surprised at the touch of soft sheets against her skin. _Either the roof has transformed into a giant pillow or I'm in my bed._ She rose from her bed and headed towards the window, taking in mornings breathe. _A new day. _She then had a shower and headed down for breakfast.

Everyone was already downstairs eating, even Shikamaru who was normally late.

"I got a wakeup call" said Shikamaru, whilst Temari flashed Rei a huge grin, "by a troublesome woman" Temari shot him a death glare, but Shikamaru blew it off and continued eating.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" asked Rei.

"Well I went to, but you seemed so peaceful, you looked so adorable I didn't want to wake you up" teased Temari. "You were even smiling". Rei blushed.

"Well, to be honest, I was on roof and I fell asleep up there, I don't know how but someone must have taken me to my bed"

Sakura and Shikamaru seemed confused by her tale; however Temari and Kankuro knew exactly who else spent time on that roof.

_Gaara_


	5. Chapter 5

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own the OC's I've created.

Summary: Rei with children, will her first day as a teacher go well?

Chapter 5- First day on the job!

Once everyone had finished getting ready for their mission, Temari escorted Sakura to the medical core, Kankuro took Shikamaru to see the councillors, they felt he needed to pass a test before taking anything he says seriously. Rei and Sakura had no doubt that he would pass with flying colours, but still wished him luck before he left. Rei on the other hand was being escorted by another jounin to the academy. Rei, to her unfortunate delight, was to train some of the academy students, rookies! Rei had never done anything like this and for good reason, she was hoping to become an anbu black op before even considering taking on pupils, however, the Hokage believed that this would be good for her training. To prepare her for the weeks to come, she had created a structured lesson plan. She was also relieved to discover that a jounin would stay with her for the first week. As they approached the school, she began to feel a little nervous.

_I've never done anything like this before. I just hope I don't fail._

"Wait here please" said the jounin as he walked into the noisy classroom.

_**10 minutes later.**_

Rei looked up as the jounin walked through the door.

"You can go in now" said the jounin; as he placed his hand on her shoulder and glanced at her with the slightest look of worry, "Good luck."

_Huh?_

Her ear twitched and she realised that something had changed. No noise. She could hear nothing coming from the classroom. What was once a loud and rowdy classroom and now turned into silence, which made her feel uneasy.

As slowly as anyone could have she turned the door-nob, she felt like something was going to explode once the door was open, and did all to delay that.

_Come on Rei! There only kids!_

She took a deep breath, raised her head high and stepped into the classroom. Instantly, she felt all eyes on her, burning into her face. She looked at her soon-to-be pupils and noticed that it was only a small class, 7 pupils all sitting in an uncomfortable silence, staring at their new teacher. Rei moved her eyes towards the desk and was relieved to see a jounin seated, looking at her with, what Rei knew, was a forced smile. Rei was about to break the uncomfortable silence when the jounin beat her to it.

"Ok class, this is your new sensei-eh-

"Rei"

Rei, for the next few months she will be running your lessons in the way she seems fit"

In that moment the class created their own choral moan session which lasted only a few moments because the teacher shouted, "Alright that is enough!" The class was silent.

"Rei, my name is Ashita Goro; I'll be supervising you for a week" Rei nodded and bowed to her fellow shinobi.

"How would you like to start the lesson?" asked Goro.

Rei looked out at the class and said, "Well I suppose…introductions, telling me about your dreams, your abilities or just something interesting about yourselves"

"Good" answered Goro, "Who wants to go first?"

_I think I just saw some tumbleweed._

"Well, ok, I'll go first" said Rei.

The whole class looked at her in confusion.

"Hi, my names Rei, I come from Konoha, as you will discover over these next few weeks I am a complete weirdo, as for my abilities, you'll discover in due course and as for my dreams, you don't need to know" The whole class looked, still in a state of confusion. "Who's next?"

_Ah, more tumbleweed._

"TENYO! YOU START" shouted Goro, it was clear to Rei that he was a man of little patients.

"But sir…" moaned the small boy.

"NOW"

Rei looked at the boy who was now trudging his way towards the front. He was a short boy, short spikey brunette hair, wearing red top and light brown shorts. Rei noticed that there were specks of dirt on his clothes, they were also crinkled up as if they hadn't been ironed in a week. When she looked at the rest of the students, she noticed that there were only 2 students whose clothes weren't muddled.

_Where do they all live?_

"My names Darui, I can control fire-"

"YOU WISH" shouted another student. The class laughed and then the boy stayed silent.

"Anything else" said Rei, sadness resonating through her voice. The boy merely looked towards the window and trudged back to his seat.

"Next" said Rei.

Another young boy rushed to the front, tripping over his own feet in the process. He wore a black loose top with grey shorts and red bands around his wrists and head. The whole class laughed, but none louder than the boy himself.

_A class clown, just like Naruto._

"My names Rinkato and I'm strong and I want to be Kazekage one day"

Rei smiled at the boy's ambition.

_Just like Naruto._

The next to come down was a girl with long blue hair; she wore a grey dress with blue leggings.

"My names Mai and I have naturally blue hair" she beamed and ran back to her seat.

Rei chuckled.

_And I thought I was weird._

"Next"

But no one else moved. Rei looked at the remaining 4 who kept their heads down.

"Why won't any of you come up, I promise I don't bite" said Rei.

But, to her dismay, no one moved.

"Why don't you just tell me your names, otherwise I'd have to make them up"

"Tera" spoke a girl with red hair.

"Keno" spoke the boy seated next to her with long black hair, done up in a ponytail.

Rei smiled and looked at the last 2. One sat at the back of the class, a girl with short black hair sat facing the window, and the other a boy who sat next to Rinkato with blonde shaggy hair.

"And the last 2?"

But still they said nothing.

"Ok then, you 2 will now be known as tweedledum and tweedledee"

They both looked at her in anger.

"WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO TELL YOU OUR NAMES?" bellowed the girl.

"Well, you don't anymore tweedledum" said Rei, the rest of the class laughed except for the boy.

The young girl turned her head back towards the window in defeat.

_Hm. This will be an interesting mission. Challenging might actually be a better word._


	6. Chapter 6

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own my OC's.

Summary: Rei contemplates on the time with her students and explores the darker areas of Suna.

Chapter 6- After Work

After 2 hours of trying to get to know the children, Rei left the classroom feeling fairly pleased with her first day, except of course for tweedledum. Throughout the whole session the young girl didn't say a word and Rei still didn't discover her name. When Rei asked Goro, he had decided not to tell her, saying that it would be an interesting challenge. Rei just couldn't figure out why the girl wouldn't participate. After the outburst at the beginning of the session, Rei had decided not to push the girl for answers, she would just leave her to stare out of the window, dreaming. The young boy that refused to co-operate at the start soon got involved, his name was Fari. For the first hour she put the children through a small test, which of course they all moaned at for 10 minutes, but the promise of cake in the next lesson was drive enough. Tweedledum had remained oblivious, so she didn't take the test.

_No cake for her!_

Afterwards, she allowed the children to train with kunai to understand the extent of there to abilities, which they were all happy with. Surprisingly, Mai had the best skills with a kunai, hitting the centre of the target almost every time. Throughout this session, tweedledum sat on a bench looking up at the sky. Rei asked if she wanted to join in, but she didn't say anything, so Rei left her to it.

_A dreamer_

Because she only had 2 hours with her pupils she still had half the day to kill. Goro promised the children that they would only have to do introductions today, so he let them leave early to. She didn't pass up the time, so she explored Suna in more depth than the tour Temari had given her. Knowing Sakura and Shikamaru wouldn't be finished until 5; she could have some alone time.

_**In the Kazekage's office**_

Gaara was sitting in his chair as usual signing his latest collection of papers. Every so often he would glance over to his window, hoping another gust of wind would blow away his paper problems. As he looked outward at his home, orange streams emitting from the sun, he allowed his mind to wander. He was thinking about her: her brunette eyes that were like dark chocolate, matching her even darker hair. Her bangs fell past her face and graced the side of his. A blush rose to his cheeks as he thought about the close proximity that they shared. He had never been that close to someone before. At that moment, his trail of thought was disturbed by Matsuri.

"Kazekage-sama have you finished those…" her voice trailing off as she saw the light red that tinted Gaara's face.

Gaara immediately snapped out of his trance.

"Yes Matsuri?" he asked.

"Eh- oh yes... Have you finished those papers I gave to you this morning?" asked Matsuri, sadness echoing through her voice. Gaara looked down and realised that for once, he actually had.

"Yes" and handed them over to her.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk, fetch me if anything happens" said Gaara and before she could get in a word, he jumped out of his window.

_Why was he blushing?_

_**Somewhere in Suna**_

Rei had been wandering around for over an hour and started to feel the rumble of her stomach.

_Time for food!_

She set off to find a ramen hut but failed. Her stomach rumbled harder, demanding food. As she looked around to where she had wandered, she realised that it was a poorer part of Suna, some of the houses looked like they had been destroyed in battle and no one had bothered to finish re-building them. She soon ignored the callings of her stomach and began to roam the area around her. Everything seemed darker, as if cut off from light of the sun, which in a place like this, seems difficult. It was as if the sun was excluding them from any light, any hope. She looked at the faces of the people who scuttled away from her like cockroaches. They all seemed to be infected with misery. Sadness and sympathy drowned her face, until she heard something that she didn't expect to hear: laughter. She ran towards the beautiful noise, wanting it to lead her to the small glimmer of happiness in place where sadness ruled. As she turned the corner, she noticed some of her students: Darui Tenyo, Tera, Keno, Fari and tweedledum were all playing with a flat ball.

_No wonder their clothes were scuffed._

She was surprised with how happy they seemed, even tweedledum was smiling. She couldn't choose whether she felt pity for them or happiness that they were content with how the lived. She thought about talking to them, but decided against it.

_They'll tell me when their ready._

She walked off, managing to convince her stomach that a ball for them would be better than food for her.

_**With Gaara**_

He had been meandering through the streets of Suna for quite some time. He felt connected to his people, so he didn't feel the need to go through alleyways to avoid their wants and needs. Occasionally they would go to him for advice, or classes learning outside would come and say hello, otherwise every so often he would notice women following him. As he walked on, he noticed the Konoha ninja holding a ball and looking at cakes. Confused at the sight, he lent against a wall and watched. She stood for 10 minutes, admiring the array of cakes, still indecisive about which to buy. Suddenly, she stopped a child, who was running towards her and asked him something. Gaara moved his head closer, attempting to hear what she asked. Then she walked inside and came out with a big box and a cupcake, which she gave to the young boy who shouted thanks and ran off. Rei looked up at the sun and started heading back to the Kazekage tower. Gaara realised that she was walking in his direction. He panicked only just understanding that he had been staring at her, some would consider this a form of stalking. Fortunately for Gaara, Rei wasn't paying attention for some unknown reason and walked straight past him. Gaara looked at her face and noticed the slightest hint of sadness in her eyes. Without realising it he walked behind her and touched her shoulders. The sudden touch released her from her trance and, thinking it was an attacker, she threw the cake and ball up into the air and punched the man behind her in the face, which sent him flying. As she caught the cake and ball, she looked at the man she had just sent across of the street and dropped her jaw at the realisation of who it was.

_Oh dear…_

She rushed over to him and shouted:

"I'M SO SORRY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE AN ATTACKER…there's nothing to see her" she said to the gathering crowd. A jounin who had seen ran at full speed towards the Kazekage tower. Rei placed her ball and cake on the floor and touched the side of his face where a bruise now sat. Gaara stared at her in shock and flinched at the touch of her hand.

"Hold still, I have something that would help" she reached into her pockets and pulled out a small tub which contained at thick, green, creamy gel. Gaara remained stationary as Rei started to apply the cream to his face.

"It should heal your skin" said Rei, gently massaging in the cream with her fingers.

"Why not just use a healing jutsus?" asked Gaara.

"I'm still learning, didn't want to risk ripping your face off accidently" answered Rei, shocking Gaara at her choice of words. Rei chuckled at his reaction.

At the same moment, Matsuri came running and was stunned to see Rei touching the Kazekage, her Kazekage!

_How dare her!_

She stepped towards the pair, bent down and ripped Rei's hand away from Gaara's face in one rapid action.Rei was stunned at her sudden reaction.

"The Kazekage doesn't like to be touched!" shouted Matsuri, as calmly as she could in her extremely frustrated state. Gaara was still dazed by the whole incident so he didn't pay much attention. Matsuri bent down next to Gaara and asked if he was ok. He stayed silent. Rei went to pick up her ball and cake, but looked in sadness as she soon discovered that Matsuri's foot had been underneath it. She knew that it was an accident but she couldn't help but give Matsuri an angry glare. Once everything had settled down Matsuri told Gaara that it would be best if a real medical ninja took a look at his cheek, manifesting her anger towards Rei in a single glance. Rei just walked in the opposite direction holding the smashed cake.

_Guess I'll have to buy another one._

As the pair headed towards the tower, Matsuri rushing at a fast pace due to her frustration, Gaara glanced back at the ninja and saw the cake in her hand.

_What was it for?_

(AN: Sorry it took so long! Hope you enjoyed it :D)


	7. Chapter 7

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Summary: Day 2

Chapter 7- Day 2

Rei returned home a few hours after the incident and had missed dinner. She walked in covered in sweat and bruises. The bandages clung to her hands with the blood that slowly dripped from her veins. Everyone was shocked to see the state she was in, even Gaara. He noticed that she still carried the smashed cake and ball; however she had another box in her possessions even though it was significantly smaller than the first. Shikamaru and Sakura had been sitting in the front room, waiting for her return and were relieved to hear the sounds of footsteps heading towards the door. After a short interrogation, she told them that she had the need to let off some steam and in turn destroyed a wooden statue. Evidence of this was the various splinters now digging into her hands. Sakura grabbed her hands and started healing them. Rei guessed that she was probably frustrated from having to wait for her. A rather loud noise then followed to emit from her stomach and she received strange looks from everyone in the room. It seemed that her stomach had waited long enough to be fed and once it again it demanded food. Unfortunately for her the only thing to eat was the smashed cake.

_Waste not want not._

After her bizarre snack she showered and headed off to bed, making sure that she hadn't left her cake on the floor. The only one not to go to bed was Gaara who headed to his usual spot to ponder on the day's events. As he got comfortable he touched the side of his face where the weird ninja had graced her hand. Her hand wasn't as soft as he expected, they were rough, like the hands of a hard worker, however they still managed to release a tenderness that made his face blush.

_The Next Day- At the academy_

Instead of sleeping in, Rei woke up before everyone else so as to get to the academy early. She wanted to prepare for the 6 hour battle ahead. She had already decided that the students would:

Discuss the results of the test (1 hour)

1-1 training battles (2 hours)

LUNCH (1 hour)

Discuss fighting styles (2 hours)

Goro agreed to the schedule she had created and placed himself at the back of the class to observe. It was 9:00am when the students arrived, except for Tweedledum who arrived 15minutes late. She trudged into classroom.

"Good morning Tweedledum" said Rei only receiving a look of hate. Tweedledum turned back to walk to the back of the class when she noticed Goro sitting in her seat. She turned back round to face Rei who was now standing by an empty place next to Rinkato, tapping the desk.

_Seating next to Rinkato should enliven her._

Tweedledum slumped to her seat, leaning as far away as she could from Rinkato.

"Morning everyone I hope you all had a good night's sleep because today you will be facing each other in short battles and whoever I think deserves it wins this ball" said Rei ending her speech with a victory smile. Rinkato leapt from his seat with pure joy as did Mai and Fari. Most of the other students were smiling, pleased that they would have a fun lesson today; the only people who didn't seem so pleased were Tweedledum and Darui.

"But first I need to discuss with you the results of the test over a nice piece of cake"

Tweedledum moaned in her seat.

_Not for me…_

Rei handed out the pieces of cake and for the next hour they discussed the tests results, surprisingly they were pretty good. Rei talked through the different strategies, jutsus and battles that she had placed in the tests, receiving arguments from different members of the class who were determined that there way was right, mainly Rinkato. Rei looked over at Tweedledum and had noticed that she was becoming frustrated by the loud boy sitting next to her.

_She's going to explode._

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP? IT'S OBVIOUS WHAT THE ANSWER IS, YOU ARE JUST TOO BIG HEADED TO SEE THAT YOU WERE WRONG!"

The whole class were in a state of shock, Rinkato in a state of fear. Rei merely smirked, happy that she had silenced the flamboyant ninja.

In the next hour, Rei had taken them for a run around Suna, which she soon regretted. Sweat dripped off of her brow and onto the ground, but she still managed to keep the lead in front of the others. Tweedledum tried to sit out of this but Rei said she had to join in otherwise she would make her run more laps than the rest of them after school. The boys, Rinkato and Keno had decided to turn it into a race which they soon regretted, sweating buckets as the trailed behind the others after 10minutes of fast sprinting.

"Slow and steady wins the race as a tortoise once said" shouted Rei in-between breaths of air.

_**In the Kazekage's office**_

Gaara was sitting at his desk as usual, assigning missions to different groups. He stood up and walked to his balcony, needing a cool Suna breeze to touch his face. As he looked over his home, he saw Rei jogging across the plains of Suna, getting bizarre looks from the passing citizens.

_Isn't she supposed to be-_

His thought cut off by the sounds of heavy breathing. Following Rei where the students he had assigned her all of them looking tired and worn out.

"Slow and steady wins the race as a tortoise once said" shouted the strange shinobi. He couldn't help but chuckle.

_Strange_

_**On the academy grounds**_

After 50 minutes of running, Rei had let the students rest for there one on one battles whilst she decided who would fight who.

"Since there's an odd number, one of you will fight me" she said beaming.

Mai vs. Tera

Darui vs. Fari

Rinkato vs. Keno

Tweedledum vs. Rei

One by one the pairs came up and fought. Rei was surprised at how long each pair lasted, longer than she anticipated. Mai showed excellent kunai skill however used no ninjutsus, whereas Tera could already use wind type jutsus, letting loose a small tornado that knocked Mai to the ground, naming Tera the winner.

"I got sand in my eye" screamed Mai. Tera just laughed and walked away.

_I think the Kazekage should invest in goggles._

The fight between Darui and Fari was very interesting. Both seem to share the same abilities, however, surprisingly when both faced each other's fire balls, Darui's were stronger, sending Fari running. Unfortunately for Darui, Fari didn't surrender. Fari ran straight towards a wall, using it to launch himself into the air, above Darui. From the air, he shot down 3 fireballs. Darui froze. Rei rushed in to knock Darui out of the way before he was burnt to a crisp. This proclaimed Fari the winner.

The match between Rinkato and Keno didn't come to Rei as a surprise. Both of them using brute force, pounding each other with punch after punch until both collapsed in exhaustion.

_Taijutsus potentials_

The last fight between Tweedledum and Rei was one most of the students were looking forward to.

_Maybe she just needs to take her anger out on me._

The fight began. Tweedledum rushed in to get the first punch, which Rei blocked with ease. She swung her leg round to try, hoping her foot would come in contact with Rei's face, but Rei just caught her leg. She now held Tweedledum in mid-air, trying to struggle for freedom.

"Would you like to get down?" said Rei. Tweedledum just glared, but didn't have time to respond because Rei had chucked her across the sand. She landed with a hard thud, scrapping her elbows along the sand. Her head shot up, looking at her sensei. Rei stood there monotone, the wind blowing past pushing her ponytail towards the sun. Everyone was stunned; none of them thought they would see this side of their sensei.

"I never said I would go easy on you" said Rei, getting into her fight stance. The fight lasted for 30 minutes extra untill Tweedledum collapsed from pure fatigue. She had pushed herself to the limit in this battle using everything she knew: clone techniques, to kunai and paper bombs and even a fire technique, not quite up to the standard Fari and Darui were, howver Rei suspected that Tweedledum's frustration may have blinded her in battle. Rei walked towards the body of her pupil (who was at the point where she could have fallen asleep), picked her up and headed towards the other students.

"I am surprised at your skill level and you should all be proud of yourselves, most students your age couldn't dream of being as strong as all of you are and because you have all worked hard today I will let you all go now, but Monday won't be an easier. I will begin by letting you know of your strengths and weakness and then we will-" Rei was cut off by the sounds of whooping, she looked up and saw her students running for their long awaited freedom.

_They must have forgotten about the ball prize._

She looked down at the girl in her arms, who had now taken up a comfortable position, resting her head in-between her arm and chest.

_**10 minutes later**_

Tweedledum slowly opened her eyes, the blurring world around her coming slow into clear view. She looked up and saw her sensei looking at her smiling.

"How are you feeling?" asked Rei hoping the girl would reply. Instead she turned her head away in defeat, realising that she must have lost.

"You are not badly damaged, a few bruises here and there, I made sure not the break any of your bones, I wouldn't want you hobbling into my classroom looking like an angry pirate" Rei said chuckling.

"Oh by the way, here you go" said Rei holding up the ball. Tweedledum stared into the face of her sensei who just sat beside her smiling.

"You deserve it; to last 30 minutes against me was impressive and your skill level is amazing" explained Rei handing her the ball.

"Oh and you get this to, there's one more piece left in there for you, said Rei in a soft tone. Tweedledum was shocked to see the small box that now sat on her lap. Tweedledum slowly opened the box and saw the small cake, topped with a white blanket of icing. Rei stood up and began to head for the door.

"I know what it's like to feel left out" said Rei finally leaving the classroom.


	8. Chapter 8

Sand in Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei's got a day off and doesn't know what to do with herself.

AN: I know it's short, but I hope you still like it.

Chapter 8- A Moment

As the weekend approached she realised that unlike the others, she had 2 days off a week. She was so use to working everyday it seemed odd to have a day to herself. Well, 1 day anyway, Sakura and Shikamaru were given Sundays to (in their words) 're-cooperate'. For Rei, scheduling a class was easy, trying to organise her own social life was not. When she woke up on Saturday morning, it was 10:00am and the house was silent. She walked into the kitchen to find a plate of food and a small note.

"_Heat it up dobe!"_

_Sakura. If she cooked this then I don't want to eat it._

But her stomach had other plans.

_Oh alright, it's not like I can cook anything anyway._

To her surprise, Rei enjoyed the meal she at.

_Sakura couldn't have cooked it._

At 11, she left the house and decided to do a bit of training followed by some ramen. After lunch she stood and watched the people walk by, giving her all sorts of looks: disgust, fear, anger, etc. But she blew them off.

_I've seen those looks before, countless times._

The next few hours she spent training, again.

_I can't believe I'm training because I'm bored!_

Without realising it, it was 7:00pm when she finally collapsed from exhaustion. Her muscles ached all and her hands felt like they were burning. Through the hours of relentless training she had attempted to perfect her fire jutsus: Hell Dragon, in which she combines wind and fire elements to create a fierce dragon form that could move faster than light. She had managed to incinerate many wooden blocks, unfortunately she can't keep the intensity of the fire going and it would eventually disperse.

_Bugger._

As she lay in a shattered state, she looked up at the sky, about to turn to night. The blurring of oranges pinks and purples captured her eyes. Her breathe slowed as if the gentle warmth of the sun healed her scarred body. She could feel the blood trickling from her cut knuckles onto the course sand, but she didn't care. The colours of the sky turned her gaze and thoughts elsewhere.

_**With Gaara**_

It was nearly 7:00pm and Gaara had finished his duties for today, however he believed that no matter what time she would never stop being Kazekage. So in the evening he would make his way through his sandy home, to make sure nothing was wrong. As she searched for trouble amongst the soft rustlings of people in their homes, he came across the bizarre ninja lying flat on the ground. He could smell the blood and burning and could see the stains that had been left in the sand. He glanced to his left and saw the remains of the wooden poles that once stood there.

"I'm sorry, I'll replace them" said Rei, still staring the sky.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb you" said Gaara as he turned to walk away.

"It's not a disturbance, more of a friendly interruption, especially when that persons alone" said Rei, smiling, patting the ground next to her with her still bleeding hands.

Gaara saw the gesture, and the dripping blood, and the bruises that covered her arms.

_She does not seem in pain at all._

Without realising Gaara had walked slowly towards her and sat down, leaving an empty space between them. They stayed in a comfortable silence, enjoying the other's company.

"You know, you get a better view of the sky from down here" said Rei chuckling.

Gaara looking bewildered lied next to the strange ninja.

"What's different?" asked Gaara.

"Well, now your neck won't get any cramps, doesn't that make the sky seem more pleasant" explained Rei, smiling at her ridiculous answer.

"You're so lucky, I mean, well, you get to see this every evening. It seems more like a painting then the sky" said Rei.

"Isn't it the same in Konoha?" asked Gaara, intrigued by the girl next to him.

"No, I don't know, I mean it is, but it isn't, maybe I'm just ignorant to Konoha's sky, when I get back I'll make sure to look at it. Note self: look at sky" answered Rei. Gaara couldn't help but chuckle at the girl before him.

As time drifted by, they shared a beautiful silence, both enjoying the changing colours of the sky: from oranges and yellows, to blues and purples, slowly being enveloped by the black of the night sky.

Gaara could feel his eyes start to become heavy, he felt as if he could float into an endless sleep.

"Kazekage look! A shooting star" said Rei pointing towards the night sky. "And another! We can make a wish each" whispered Rei, closing her eyes.

Gaara opened his eyes and saw the flash of light shoot by. He closed his eyes, not really believing in wishing upon stars, but for some reason he couldn't help but do it.

_Is it for her?_

Rei opened her eyes and smiled.

"What did you wish for?" asked Gaara.

"I can't tell you Kazekage-sama, it wouldn't come true. We should probably head to bed, you've got to be Kazekage in the morning and I, well I, hmm what will I do tomorrow?" said Rei.

"Call me Gaara"

"What"

"Gaara"

"Oh Ok, Gaara" said Rei as a small pink blush rises to her cheeks.

They both slowly got up and started to leave.

"Just don't incinerate anymore blocks" said Gaara.

"I can't make any promises" said Rei still smiling, still blushing.


	9. Chapter 9

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: A day of training and semi-nakedness

AN: I know this chapter is short and I'm really sorry.

Chapter 9- Hidden Talents

_**9:00pm**_

"I'm looking forward to this!" shouted Rei, tying her headband protector tightly around her forehead.

"Why?" asked Sakura, recovering from the early wake up call. Evident from the blackbags that were slowly devourering her eyes.

"Because yesterday, I was like a snail who had run out things to do..." answered Rei. Sakura glared at her weird friend. Shikamaru shook his head.

"I don't know why but today I woke up feel amazing!" shouted Rei, jumping with joy out of the window. "Now lets go and train!"

"Why is she so dam chippy?" said a grumpy Kankuro, trudging into the room. Both Shikamaru and Sakura shrugged.

_**Just before lunch**_

Sakura and Rei had been fighting for 40minutes, exchanging blows and jutsus. In the fight Sakura seemed significantly stronger, however throughout the match Rei had the upperhand. Through the years of training with Shikamaru and Shino, she had learnt to have her 'ace in the hole'. They stood facing each other, blood dripping from various cuts and bruises. They stared, knowing that they where both running out of gas.

_Last move, I've got to make it count._

Sakura charged first using several clones to force Rei against the wall behind her, hoping to send a fierce chakra filled punch into Rei's stomach, however Rei had sensed the sand wall and had began to run up it backwards. Sakura's clones still in pursuit.

_Now!_

Using the short distance between herself and the clones to increase the intensity in her jutsus, she unleashed her fiercesome Hell Dragon. Rei eyes flared a crimson red, fire burning within them, which didn't go unnoticed by Temari who had become tranced by the depth of power beneath them. Sakura, whose eyes spread wide with fear, leaped out of the way, unfortunately for her the speed of the jutsus was so great that her clones didn't stand a chance, leaving scorch marks on her skin.

"What..the..hell" spoke Sakura, inbetween breaths. She winced in pain that she felt coursing through her body. Temari, who, in the blistering heat of the sun, sat frozen, gob-smacked at the pure intensity of the jutsus, and the fear she felt, gazing into Rei's hellish eyes.

"DAMMIT!" shouted Rei. Shikamaru and Kankuro's head's shot up, confused at their comrade.

_Who knew she was that strong!_

"Even in the heat of battle I still CAN'T do it!" shouted Rei, full of frustration. She allowed herself to fall to the ground, sending sand particles into the air. Sakura was frozen on the floor, quivering ever so slightly.

_What was she trying to do?_

"Hey, what's the matter?" asked Shikamaru.

"Nothing" said Rei, her head still buried in the sand. "I'll get it eventually, Sakura, are you ok? I didn't mean for it to be that powerful, you just bring that out in mean"

"Aww- HEY!"

Everyone laughed whilst Temari sat in a state of stillness.

_What was that?_

_**The Kazekage Office**_

Gaara gazed over the training grounds, where he had instructed Temari and Kankuro to observe the weird ninja. He knew the abilities of Sakura and Shikamaru, however the bizarre ninja had remained a mystery. He turned, and at that moment, he caught sight at the fearful justus.

"Gaara-sama, I have more paperwork for you to do..." said Matsuri who had stopped, shocked at the emotion that now plastered Gaara's face. _Fear. _She rushed towards the window and saw the bizarre ninja who she had decided to hate fall from the wall.

_What had she done?_

She looked back at Gaara, whose eyes where still glued on Rei.

When he saw the five of them leave the training grounds he jumped down to examine the area. Matsuri followed, hoping that she would find something that would gain his attention.

"Gaara-sama look!" said Matsuri, holding a handful of black granules.

"What is it?"

Gaara touched the grains in Matsuri's hand causing her to blush, feeling the roughness of specks before him.

"Sand"

He looked around the training ground and saw more scattered, scorched particles.

_Was it really that strong?_

_**Late Afternoon**_

Because of the injuries Sakura had retained, she could no longer train untill she had fully recovered, so she spent the rest of the day lounging around. Rei wanted train more but was told by Shikamaru not to over do it, so she and Temari joined Sakura in a trip to the spa. Kankuro and Shikamaru headed towards the Kazekage tower to prepare for next week's mission, however Kankuro had other plans.

_Sakura's hot! Must see!_

"Don't even think about it Kankuro" spoke a calm Shikamaru, "They'll find you and then you'll be sorry"

"Hey, I'm a ninja, they won't find me" said a confident Kankuro, Shikamaru just shook his head and walked towards the tower.

_What a baka..._

_**With Gaara**_

He had collected sand to send to his analytical team, hoping that they would discover more. He spent the rest of the day filling in forms, every-so-often Matsuri would check up on him and contemplating on _that_ jutsus.

_Such intensity, I would have never guessed she was so strong._

"Is there anything I can help you with?" asked Matsuri, hoping to get the answer she wanted.

"No, thank you Matsuri" answered Gaara, staring out of the window.

Matsuri dropped her head in disappointment. She could see the confusion deep within his teal eyes. She was about to turn away but plucked up the courage and said:

"You should tell people, when you feel lost or confused, get there opinion, it'll make you feel better getting it off your chest" a blushed crawled across her face, causing her to look in the opposite direction.

Gaara looked at Matsuri with the slightest sense of shocking, unsure of what to say.

"Eh, thank you, but I don't really feel like talking now, thank you" said Gaara turning back to window.

"Oh ok, bye Gaara-sama" said Matsuri, disappointment now drowning her sorrows.

He turned back at the sound of the closing door, feeling bad.

_I need to clear my head._

_**At the spa.**_

"Aaaahhhh, this was a good idea" said Rei, slumping herself further into the warm water.

"You should be honoured, it's the best spa in Suna, but the ones in Konoha are better" said Temari.

"That's only because of the climate here in Suna, this feels amazing. I suppose that because of the blaring heat, a spa would, even if the standards aren't as good as Konoha, feel amazing. That's something we take for granted in Konoha" explained Rei, allowing the warmth of the water stroke the cuts and bruises on her skin.

Temari just stared at the bizarre ninja.

"You are weird" answered Temari, hoping she had not insulted the ninja next to her. Rei just laughed.

"I hear that alot"

"Well, since we have some time away from the boys, Temari how is your love life?" asked Sakura, teasing Temari but poking her.

Temari looked bewildered, and blushed intensly.

"My it's hot in here ay Temari" spoke Rei, joining in with the teasing.

"I don't have a love life" demanded Temari, sinking into the water.

Sakura and Rei laughed out loud, but they were interrupted but an explosion of water. Temari bursted out of the water.

"Yeah but what about Rei?" shouted Temari, pointing her finger at Rei.

"What do you mean?" asked Rei, curious of Temari's accusation.

"HA! you and Gaara have been awful friendly! even though I'm happy about it. Do you fancy him?" shouted Temari, gleaming a victory smile.

"Oh yeah!" shouted Sakura, laughing loudly.

They both surrounded Rei, poking her and probbing her with questions.

"I do not fancy- ahh!" She felt the heat rising to her face, so she dunked her head into the water in an attempt to swim away. Sakura and Temari fell back into a seating position and laughed at their comrade who was swimming to the otherside.

_Why are my cheeks red? I've never felt..I mean..Do I really fancy-_

Her trail of thought was cut off by rustling bushes. She shot her head up, tightening the towel drapped around her body. The other 2 looked over in confusion.

"What is she doing?" whispered Sakura. Temari shruggered.

"You are not leaving us-"

"Shhh! I heard something"

Sakura glared at Rei, she doesn't like being told to stay quiet.

"I would suggest wrapping your towels tighter ladies, I think there's a pervert about"

_**With Gaara**_

_As much as I try, I can't get it out of my head. She's so difficult to work out! and I know nothing about her, well I haven't asked, maybe I should? She's so weird, and bizarre and she makes no sense, but I can't help but smile at her face, and why can't I stop thinking about her? NO! you are not thinking about her, you are thinking about the jutsus. That powerful jutsus, her jutsus, her jutsus, her..._

"Ow, Kazekage-sama, what has made you so distracted?" asked Shikamaru, who had had Gaara run into him momentarily.

"My apologises Shikamaru, I was thinking about something" answered Gaara, annoyed at himself for being distracted.

"That's ok, just be careful, that must have been something important, that blush certainly says something"

Gaara's eyes suddenly grew wide.

_Why am I getting like this?_

"By the way, I suggest you go and save your brother before the girls pulvarise him, he's by the spa"

_What, by the spa...Kankuro!_

With that Gaara rushed off to save his brother from imminent death.

_**At the spa**_

"Someone's here" said Rei "Whoever you are, you dirty little perve, I suggest you run before I find you"

Sakura and Temari were still confused, they hadn't heard anything. Suddenly Rei shot off to a nearby tree, using her speed to catch the pervert before they could run. She flew a powerful chakra punch, unknowningly, into Kankuro's face.

"KANKURO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" shouted Rei, whose faced match the colour of a beetroot. The other girls rushed, putting on dressing gowns before running towards an unconsiousness Kankuro. Unfortunately for Rei, she wore only the towel that clung to her body, which she didn't notice untill a certain red head turned up.

"What happened?" asked Temari.

"Let's just say I taught Kankuro how to fly, and he failed!" answered Rei, still bright red.

"Excuse, what happened here" asked a confused Gaara.

"Well as I just-ahh!" Rei beetroot face, went so red she nearly past out. She had finally noticed that she stood there in only a towel for the whole world to see and Gaara.

Gaara stared at the bizarre ninja, whose towel stuck to her body, revealing all of her curves. He blushed, facing his head to the floor, unsure of what to make of this scene.

Rei rushed back to spa, sheer embarassement driving her on. The other 2 girls stared at a bright red Gaara.

_Does he fancy her to?_


	10. Chapter 10

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei discovers more about the children and her feelings.

Chapter 10: Passing Moments

Over the next week, Rei had made it her mission to avoid Gaara if at all possible. It was Friday, and she had managed to avoid him by giving her reports to Matsuri.

_*Flashback*_

"Eh, Matsuri-chan?" asked Rei, as politely as she could. She knew from previous encounters that Matsuri didn't particularly like her, giving off bad vibes with the constant glares of evil, but if she was going to avoid Gaara then the only way was through her.

"Yes, how can I help-! Oh, it's you…" said Matsuri, turning back to her paperwork.

_What does she want?_

"You've probably heard about the incident at the spa and…"

_Ha! Who hasn't? ...If only he was staring at me instead._

"…so could you do that for me?"

"Huh? I wasn't listening, what did you say?" replied Matsuri, not really giving a dam what the weird ninja wanted because she knew what the answer would be.

_Rude… she could have at least listened!_

"I said, could you give Gaara my daily reports?" asked Rei, holding back the anger, brewing in her fist.

"What! YES YES YES! Of course I will" screamed Matsuri, in some fan-girl manner.

"Thank you" said Rei, and with that she left, not being able to help a slight sadness fall upon her face.

_*End of flashback*_

For the past week, her relationship with her students had grown stronger. She had begun to teach them weapon type jutsus and basic forms of taijutsus, it was too early for anyone to make significant improvements, but Rei could see that some of the students were more naturally talented. Rinkato and Keno however did seem more enthusiastic about taijutsus then the rest of the students, especially Darui, who had skipped 2 lessons due to 'illness' which was backed up by other students.

_There must be a reason why he didn't want to fight._

After Friday's lesson Rei had decided to find Goro-sama, who had returned to his jounin duties. She was told by other jounin that he had been at the training grounds with a few other jounin. As she arrived at the training ground, she was almost knocked down by strong gusts of air, which turned out to be a passing jounin. Luckily she's a ninja, and never puts her guard down.

"Rei-san, what are you doing here?" asked Goro, clearly worn out from his practice fight.

"I'm sorry for interrupting but I wanted to ask you something" answered Rei.

Goro nodded and headed in her direction.

"I'm taking a break; I'll be back in a bit. Would you like a drink? I owe you for looking after those kids and surviving" asked Goro.

"Sure" said Rei smiling, not expecting the usually cold man to offer her a drink.

_**10 minutes later.**_

"So you wanted to ask me about the kids?" asked Goro, placing his cup of sake on the table.

"You hit the badger on it's head, how did you- well I suppose it fits logic that I would ask you about them. Anyway, why are they in a class separated from other students, I mean, I know that some of them aren't as wealthy as other people, but then there's Rinkato and Mei, why are they with them? And why would they be separated for that reason anyway? And it's clear to me that some of the children's talents are far beyond the expectations of their age and should be genin at least, like Tera, Darui, he just needs a bit more confidence and Fari and Tweedledum-"

"You still don't know her name?" asked Goro, laughing into his drink.

"No, she' stubborn" answered Rei, who had completely forgotten to discover her name.

"So I guess you know where they live?" said Goro, finishing off his cup.

Rei nodded, "Why hasn't that place been fixed? And why doesn't anyone take care of these kids?"

"A jounin visits them once a week to give them food, water, blankets"

"Yes but-"

"One of my jounin told me that apparently someone has been leaving baskets of food every evening for the kids to eat, I wonder who that could be?" said Goro, staring at the young ninja.

Rei looked into her cup with sadness, staring at the reflecting in the liquid.

"I don't know what else I can do. I can't just do nothing, knowing that they could be freezing each night with nothing to eat. But why hasn't anyone done anything about it?" asked Rei, frustrated that he had avoided the question.

Goro looked at Rei and saw determination for the truth. She wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"Years ago, when I was just a chuunin, the sand waged war with the hidden rock village over the murdering of families on our boarders. Reports came in that it had been hidden Rock ninjas, searching for a scroll of some sorts. The Kazekage and Tsuchikage couldn't agree when each attempted to use democracy to prevent war: The Kazekage saying that evidence had been found suggesting that Hidden Rock ninja's had been on his soil, demanding the heads of the ninjas, and the Tsuchikage suggesting that they were rogue ninjas who he had been hunting down. On the eve before battle, a group of Hidden Rock ninja's attacked the village, using powerful ninjutsus that demolished buildings and killed many. After a few days of mourning and a few more days of chasing, the men were caught and killed before the eyes of both the Kazekage and the Tsuchikage. It turns out they were rogue ninjas after a scroll they claimed was stolen by the village. They never said why they killed families from outside the village. Anyway, some of the buildings were re-built, mainly the ones more central to the village, however some were just forgotten about, becoming hideouts for thieves and vagabonds. Some say that the ghosts of the dead remain in those run-down buildings. But that's just an old wives tale to keep normal, wealthy people away"

Rei stared at Goro, "But why have the kids been segregated from other children, surely it would be better for them to socialise with children not in their known area and why are Mei and Rinkato there? They don't live with the other children!"

"The children get scared, and parents complained, the Kazekage had no choice but to move the children to a different class, for their own safety he said. As for Mei and Rinkato, let's say incidents happen; the class soon became a form of punishment. The children would joke that if they were naughty they would have to spend time with the 'ghost class'. Harsh I know, but children are like that. One day Rinkato said that he would spend time in the class as a joke; Mei said she would do it aswell because she had a crush on him. This was about a year ago. Rinkato got into a fight with another student and Mei slapped one of the teachers, never knew why, but both were put into the class. At first they were scared, the children didn't like them because they were 'pompous pansy's' but once the week was up, they didn't want to move out of it. Their parents didn't say much about it. But they haven't spoken to any of their old class mates ever since. It's sad when you think about it."

A silence swept over them. Rei took in all the information in one fell swig of her drink.

"Thank you Goro-sama, by the way, who was the Kazekage at the time?" asked Rei.

"The fourth Kazekage, Gaara-sama's father" answered Goro returning to his drink.

_Phew, I didn't think Gaara would do something like that._

"Also, should you really be drinking if you're going back to your training?" said Rei, laughing at the now empty bottle of sake.

"I was-eh-going to practice drunk style" replied Goro, not once losing eye contact with the weird ninja.

_It's weird but he seems deadly serious about this._

"Good luck with that" smiled Rei, running off towards the shops.

_**8:00pm**_

"Why is she always late? She never eats with us" moaned Kankuro. "But I'm glad she isn't, she would probably want to punch me again. OW!"

Sakura and Temari glared at the face painted ninja. Shikamaru had chucked a piece of bread at him as a hint for him to shut up.

_Baka. He knows that the girls don't like talking about it._

All of them sat in silence, attempting to enjoy the meal Temari had cooked. She had invited Matsuri to dinner hoping to cheer her up. Ever since Matsuri had found out about the spa incident, she's either been incredibly moody or angry, or sad and depressed.

_*Flashback*_

"_Temari-chan, why-"_

"_Are you going to ask me why Gaara's face looks like it's been slapped with a wet fish?" asked Temari, annoyed that the short brunette noticed. _

_I can't lie to her._

"_Let's just say he's semi discovered the features of the female body" _

_Matsuri blushed but was then hit, with what felt like a hammer, a sudden realisation._

"_WHO! AND HOW!" Matsuri shouted, infuriated with what she just her._

"_AND WHY WASN'T IT ME!" screamed Matsuri, near enough in eyes._

"_Shhh! Or he will hear you!" said Temari attempting to calm the girl._

"_It was Rei, I mean it wasn't her fault, Kankuro was spying on us, or mainly on Sakura as I discovered from Shikamaru-kun, and then Rei, being a top class ninja which I found out from training, heard him in the bushes and decided to punch him, causing him to land outside the spa. She's lucky no one else saw, but unfortunately for her Gaara did, as she stormed up to Kankuro with fury in her eyes, like she was about to kick ten tonnes of shit out of him. But then she noticed Gaara and ran back inside with humiliation. But don't blame Rei, it's not her fault, if you want to blame anyone blame Kankuro"_

_Unfortunately for Temari, Matsuri had zoned out at the sound of Rei's name._

_That vixen! GRR!_

_*End of Flashback*_

As all 6 of them sat in silence, chewing the 'delicious' dinner. Matsuri was smiling to herself for 2 simple reasons: 1- She was seated next to Gaara, 2- More importantly, Rei wasn't in the room to disturb anything that could happen between her and Gaara. She grinned between each bite, hoping that he will turn his head in her direction, closing the gap between them.

"Sorry, I'm late! But by only 10 minutes I think" shouted Rei, grinning. She glanced across the room and saw Matsuri and Gaara sitting next to each other. Her eyes met with Gaara's causing her to blush, shooting her head in the other direction.

"15 minutes late actually" said Matsuri, carrying bitterness in her voice. She had noticed the glance they shared.

"Bugger…" said Rei.

"What's happened to your hands? Are those scorch marks?" asked a worried Sakura.

"Eh no…" answered Rei, hiding her burnt hands behind her back.

"Give them here" demanded Sakura.

"No, I insist you eat your dinner Sakura-chan" said Rei pointing at Sakura's seat, "I'll be back in a moment."

Rei walked out of the room and into the bathroom. Her hands felt like they were on fire. After her talk with Goro, a trip to the shop to buy her students food for the night, she had decided that luck was on her side for no apparent reason, so she attempted her Hell Dragon jutsus again. She worked on improving the intensity of the jutsus, not realising that it was beyond the limits of temperatures for normal fire jutsus. After many attempts, her hands felt as if they had been dipped in hot lava, she could barely pick anything up, so when it came to opening her herbal medicine, it was a great difficulty. She tried many different positions using her wrists, her knees, even her toes, but to no avail. Her last attempt was between her teeth but before she could move to twist it, Gaara walked into the room.

"Are you…ok?" asked Gaara, slightly surprised at the position the ninja had gotten herself into. She laughed quietly, hoping Rei hadn't noticed.

"ehhh-eeahh-mmm-nneee" mumbled Rei, still holding the tub between her teeth.

Gaara couldn't help but laugh more, "What?"

"I-sed, yeah I'm fine, thank you" said Rei, attempting to stand dignified in front of the Kazekage. The two stood in an awkward silence for what seemed like forever. This is the first time that they had been alone together since the incident. In an instant both recalled the incident in their heads and in sync, turned their head's the other way, blushing wildly.

"Do you need any help?" asked Gaara.

"Yes please" replied Rei, attempting to pick up the spit covered tub off of the floor.

_**5 minutes beforehand**_

"Why does she do it to herself? She's going to kill herself one day" spoke a still worried Sakura.

"It's the only thing she knows how to do" spoke Shikamaru, attempting to silence the pink haired ninja.

_If only they knew…_

Gaara stared into Shikamaru's eyes.

_What does he mean?_

Suddenly, Gaara rose from his seat, surprising all but Shikamaru and headed towards the bathroom. Matsuri's face dropped, knowing where and who he was walking towards.

"But Gaara-kun you haven't finished your din-" said a desperate Matsuri. Unfortunately her pleas were cut off at the sound of a slamming door. She dropped back into her seat in disappointed, dropping her head onto the table with a loud thump.

_Ahh, so she likes him aswell. This may get tricky._

_**In the Bathroom**_

"Sorry about the spit, you may want to get a towel, could be contaminated" said Rei, trying not to gross out the calm red head.

"I met a guy once with radioactive saliva, was part of jutsus, apparently it was a family thing, but anyway it's was disgusting but very powerful, could burn through anything, and could melt all layers of your body: skin, bones, tissue, everything" spoke Rei in an attempt of conversation.

Gaara glanced her way but quickly got back to opening the herbal medicine.

_How can she be so social after that…_

_He must still feel bad about seeing me like that._

"It's pretty tough huh?" said Rei in a desperate attempt at conversation. Gaara remained silent.

_Don't look at her. Don't look at her._

_He does hate me…_

"You know, I'm sorry about what happened at the spa" said Rei, Gaara's head shot up. "In my defence Kankuro shouldn't have been spying on us and I didn't even know it was him, but I suppose it is my fault when I walked out in just a towel…I'm sorry!" spoke Rei at an agitated pace. Another silence fell over them.

_That's it, he hates me!_

"You don't have to apologise, it's not your fault if you forgot that you were…" spoke a blushing Gaara, "And Kankuro is a pervert and deserved that punch to the face"

Both couldn't help but laugh, but it soon quietened down when they heard the popping sound of the tub. Gaara looked down, and saw the swirling pattern made by her delicate but firm fingertips.

"Thank you" said Rei, opening her hands, awaiting the feel of the plastic surface of the tub, however she did not feel that. Instead she felt the soft cream slide delicately over the hands. She looked up and saw Gaara, painting at her burnt skin. She blushed, realising that their hands were touching. And, as if it was contagious, he blushed, realising the same thing.

"Well, you can't do it yourself" explained Gaara, trying to justify their closeness.

"Thank you" said Rei, unsure of what else to say.

"You said that already" said Gaara, as mono as he could. Rei laughed hesitantly.

For a few moments they sat in silence, the only thing that could be heard were the echoing murmurs of the others in the other room.

"Y-You should probably head back, they'll be wondering where you've gone, or what you, we, I mean you have been doing" said Rei, clearly nervous about the others would think.

_Me and Gaara, in a bathroom for quite a long period of time…great more poking and interrogations._

Gaara remained silent, unaware of what Rei said. He stared at her chocolate brown eyes, emotions swirling in the pit of his stomach.

_Those eyes, so lost, full of fire, what is it that makes her so...?_

"Gaara?"

"What?"

"What were you staring at? Do I have a spot on my nose?" asked Rei, panicking at the state of her nose, so much so that she ended up covering her nose in cream. Gaara chuckled at her. Rei's attempted to remain as monotone as possible but eventually laughed also.

"Any better?"

"We should go back" said Gaara, and with that they both headed for the dinner table, with an angry Matsuri awaiting them.

_**In the Kitchen**_

The door creaked open. Gaara and Rei walked in with serious expressions, an attempt to cover up the fun they had just had. Unfortunately Shikamaru could see straight through them both. Matsuri's eyes flared with anger.

_Grrr! What happened?_

In a fit of internal rage she threw Rei's dinner into the bin and stormed out of the house. Everyone stared at her, bound by shock. Rei merely stood over the bin, watching her dinner slowly slide down the sides of the lining.

_I was going to eat that._

"I'll go after her" said Temari, bolting out of the door.

"I should go aswell" spoke Gaara, following Temari. The Konoha ninja's stared at the remaining sand ninja, who was finishing off a 2 plate of noodles.

"What? I'm not going to talk to her in that state" explained Kankuro. Shikamaru stared at him.

"Fine I'll go, but if I get hurt I'll blame you!" said Kankuro rushing out of the door.

_Does she fancy him?_

"Sorry about your dinner Rei" spoke Sakura, disheartened from what was a pleasant evening, to a love battlefield.

"It's ok, I wasn't hungry anyway" said Rei, flashing Sakura a fake smile. Unfortunately for her Sakura could see straight through it.

"Why don't you to go to bed? I'll clear up the broken plate"

And with that Shikamaru and Sakura trudged off to bed.

Rei picked up fragments of the plate and placed them in the bin.

_Why does it bother me so much? I mean I'm not like her, but, gr! I shouldn't be like this! Even if I do fancy him…NO! NO REI NO! Don't say it! He would never want you anyway! It's hopeless, she's probably more his type, and they probably grew up together as friends. Just get over him!_

In Rei's head Matsuri had already one, hanging he head in defeat and slinking off to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary:

Chapter 11- 'That Group'

The weekend had begun once again and Rei, who tried to find something else to do to occupy her time, instead ended up training from early morning to late afternoon. Ever since the dinner incident (Rei also noticed her incident list was getting longer each week) she had avoided Matsuri and Gaara. She made it her mission to remove any feeling she had for Gaara by doing the only thing she knew how to do, train. During his lunch hour, Shikamaru had decided to pay a trip to the training ground, to check up on an old friend. He watched over her as she moved through stance by stance of different fighting styles.

_No wonder she's one of the best fighters I've ever seen._

"Hey" shouted Shikamaru, causing her to jump out of her skin.

"Oh hey" replied Rei.

"So focused on your training you didn't notice me standing there" spoke a smug Shikamaru.

"I'm trying to remove everything from my mind, and focus solely on my surroundings; you've been standing there for approximately 7 minutes and 36 seconds. I couldn't predict when you were going to speak up" replied Rei, trying to remove the smug on his face with a big fat metaphorical bat.

"Sure you did" said Shikamaru, taking a seat on the bench.

"So, what's up?" asked Shikamaru.

"So you've noticed, not many people do, it's quite an achievement" replied Rei, smiling a fading smile.

"I know you train a lot, but only like this to do you train when something is playing on your mind. So what's with this removal business happening in your head?" said Shikamaru.

"When I was in, 'that group', we were taught to remove emotion, but it wasn't just combat situations, it was every situation. I was like a blank canvas that someone had painted black. I think it took longer for me to gain emotions then it did to be conditioned without them. I'm wondering if the process could be reversed, maybe with just 1 emotion" explained Rei.

"Rei you wouldn't-"

"No of course not, I look back at who I was and figured that I was just a ghost" Shikamaru looked at his friend with great sadness; she had never opened out like this before. He was one of the only people to know her situation but never before had he asked how she felt about it. He figured that she'd never want to speak about it.

"So you like him?" asked Shikamaru.

"Talk about direct" said Rei, trying to avert the question.

"Well? Not that you have to answer because it's completely obvious anyway" said Shikamaru.

"Then why ask?"

"It'll be an important moment for you when you say it"

"Why?" asked a confused Rei.

"Because you've never said it before" answered Shikamaru, smiling at her, as if wanting to be there for her when she said it.

"I'm not about to start now" answered Rei, rising from the seat.

"Why NOT? It's obvious that you like him, why can't you just say it?" shouted Shikamaru.

"Because Matsuri loves him!" shouted Rei, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. Shikamaru stared at her, stunned by the sadness in her eyes.

"And I don't want to ruin that for her, she shows love, care, devotion and that is what he deserves, not some empty shell" said Rei and with that she carried on with her training, hitting the stumps harder and harder with each blow.

Shikamaru got up and walked away, knowing that he had lost this conversation. He knew that speaking to her any further would just agitate and annoy, something he didn't want to do.

As he walked on, Rei looked back on her comrade, her first friend.

_Thank you Shikamaru, for trying._

Turning back she hit the stumps harder and harder, her body turned redder and redder until the blood dripped out of her nails, knuckles, through cuts on her body, bruises began to form on her shins and lower arms. But she still she kept bashing away, ignoring the pain that coursed through her veins. She finally stopped when her body fell to the floor in pure exhaustion. She lay in her sweat and blood, her eyes began to well up, and she felt salty tears run down her face. She tried to raise her hand to wipe them away, but couldn't. So, for once, she let herself cry. She allowed the tears to glaze her skin, mixing with the sweat that lay across her face, their pathways staining her skin. She knew that no one else was around, it was late and people were curled up on their sofas, together. Whilst she was alone, on a cool, calm night, crying, like she had never done before.

_**8:00pm**_

Everyone was in the kitchen clearing up, ever since the incident, Rei had not eaten dinner with them especially when Matsuri was round, and she seemed to be round there every night. Shikamaru and Matsuri were washing the dishes whilst the others sat on the table in silence, waiting for something to happen.

"Shikamaru, do you know what Rei was doing today?" asked Sakura, annoyed that Rei hadn't turned up for dinner again.

"She was training" answered Shikamaru, hoping that a short, clear answer would silence the pink headed ninja. Unfortunately it didn't.

"Why is she always training? There are other things to do in one's spare time, but no she has to keep improving herself, it's as if she doesn't know what else to do. Shikamaru you should tell her to stop, she'll listen to-"

"WOULD YOU STOP!" shouted Shikamaru, frustrated at Sakura. "You don't know what she's been through! Training is all she has, what's wrong with that! Stop judging her!"

Everyone was stunned. Sakura began to shake, she had never seen him shout like that before, and in fact no one had. Gaara was also shocked, but not just at his outburst, but what he had said.

_What she's been through…what does he mean?_

"I'm sorry Sakura-"

He was about to finish his apologises when he was interrupted by the sound of a creaking door. Rei stumbled into the house, blood dripping onto the carpet. She looked up and said:

"Sorry I'm late, I fell asleep, I'm fine Sakura, released really" said Rei looking up at the sky through the window. Gaara stared at the blood covered ninja in front of him, shocked at bruises and cuts that paved her skin.

_What was she doing?_

"I'm just going to bathe and go to bed" and with that, Rei stumbled towards the bathroom. Shikamaru followed her to the bathroom whilst the others sat in silence, stunned at what they had seen. Matsuri was seated on the sofa next to Gaara looking at him the whole time. She was sad, because all she saw was worry, not hatred or nothing.

_Maybe he does like her…_

AN: I'm sorry it's short but I've been so busy with revision and exams. I hope you like it :D


	12. Chapter 12

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Summary: A few weeks after the incident, Rei has made it her mission to remove Gaara from her trail of thoughts, were as Gaara has been trying to work them out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 12- The 'Dates'

Gaara was seated at his desk, looking out at the falling sun. It was late evening, and it had been a long day, but so was every day. Every day that he didn't see her, every day seemed longer. He looked forward to dinner, were he hoped that he might get a glimpse at her face, or that they would trade conversation. Unfortunately ever since 'the incident' Rei had rarely been home to dinner on time and whenever he saw her, she was covered in blood and bruises, it was obvious she had been training hard. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, and what made her so right. Each time she would run into his trail of thought, he wanted to run into hers. She gave him the adrenaline to find her, but he was confined by the chains of duty, and of Matsuri.

"Kazekage-sama, I have no-shows report for today" spoke Matsuri, 'no-show', a name Matsuri had adopted for Rei. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to say her name, especially in his presence.

"Matsuri, I really wish you wouldn't call her that" asked Gaara, keeping up the serious pretence.

"She doesn't mind, and besides she's not here" explained Matsuri.

"That doesn't matter if it were you-"

"GO OUT WITH ME" shouted Matsuri, unsure of why she did. Gaara stared at her in confusion.

"If you go out with me, on just 1 date, I'll stop calling Rei no show"

Matsuri was lent over the desk, forcing Gaara for an answer. Gaara didn't know what to say.

_*Flashback*_

Matsuri sat on her bed, her hands wrapped around her legs, pulling them closer to her chest. Tears rolled down her cheek at the thought of Gaara-kun and the vixen together.

_What if he does like her?_

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, disturbing her thought process.

"Who is it?" asked Matsuri, scrambling her desk for a tissue.

"It's Temari"

"One minute" replied Matsuri, trying to sort herself out; she never wanted to look weak in front of Temari. Gaara taught her to always remain strong.

"So what's the matter?" asked Temari, placing herself on the edge of Matsuri's bed.

"Nothing, nothing's the matter" replied Matsuri.

"Oh come on, ever since Rei wandered into the house looking like someone had put her through a shredder and then attempted to beat her like you would eggs, you've been really angry all the time"

"It's just" she sighed. "What if he likes her?" asked Matsuri, hinting a sad tone.

"Well I'm sure they are just friends-"

"You know what I mean! You've suspected it to, you, Sakura, and Shikamaru, Kankuro is too stupid" she shouted angrily. She knew Temari wouldn't want to admit the truth to her. Temari looked at her with pity.

"The way he looks at her, no anger, no nothing, just worry, he worries about her, like I've never seen him worry before, but he probably hasn't realised it himself" a tear rolled down her cheek. "I should just give up."

Temari was silenced. She didn't know what to say. _Who would Gaara be happier with? If even Matsuri has seen then maybe he does have feelings for Rei. But there's something about her, we don't really know her that well. Maybe Shikamaru would… he wouldn't tell me, and I'm sure Rei doesn't open up about it easily._

"Then get in there first!" shouted Temari at the top of her lungs. "Show him how confident you are, I'm sure he would agree to go on a date with you!"

_Why did I say that?_

"Yeah but what about Rei-"

"NO BUTS!"

_May aswell go with it, and Matsuri has loved him for ages._

_*End of flashback*_

"We can go wherever you want, you've got time now haven't you, we could go for a walk, or something, let's just go somewhere, on a date"

Gaara still remained gob-smacked.

"And I will definitely not call Rei no show anymore, I'll even apologise to her"

_Well, if it'll stop her from calling Rei no show._

"Ok, we could go for a walk now I suppose, but you have to promise not to call Rei a 'no show'"

"I promise, now let's go!"

_It worked, I can't believe it, Temari-chan was right! Take that 'No Show'_

**In the Suna academy**

"Ok everyone, tomorrow I will be testing you-"

"No! Too many tests" shouted Rinkato, already predicting that he would fail. Tweedledum bonked him on the head with a book.

"Shut up moron, she hasn't finished" said Tweedledum.

"As I was saying, it will be a practical test, I suggest you all go and train beforehand, because I can assure, it will not be easy" explained Rei, with a serious look on her face.

The students were confused, and slightly worried. They had learnt over the past few weeks that when Rei was serious, she was serious, and none of them took that lightly. Tweedledum was sat next to Rinkato as normal, but she didn't complain as much about him as when she first did.

"What sort of test is it?" asked Tweedledum, curious at why they had received such little information.

"A practical one stupid" shouted Rinkato, pointing very mockingly at the girl next to him.

"Actually Rinkato, that's a good question, I haven't given you details for a good reason, you won't find out until tomorrow, so eat, sleep and train, for tomorrow you will fight" explained Rei and with that she returned to her desk. All the students stared at her bewilderingly.

"You can leave" Rei said simply, and looked back at her paperwork.

All the students proceeded to leave the classroom, Rinkato and Keno shot out of the class faster than a pair of ostriches, however Tweedledum, as an act of revenge for calling her stupid, tripped Rinkato up just as he got to the door. He fell flat on his face, which caused everyone to laugh. Tweedledum merely smirked and walked on. Just as Darui was about to leave the classroom, Rei called him over.

"Darui, can I speak to you?" asked Rei, rising from her desk.

"Yes sensei" replied Darui, sitting on a desk.

"You're not ill are you?" asked Rei.

"No, sensei, why?" answered Darui, slightly worried about where this would lead to.

"That's good, just make sure you still that way till after tomorrow, ok?"

Darui remained silently. He had been bunking out of lessons that had involved any close combat. Ever since the first fight between himself and Fari, he was afraid. He knew that in that moment, he felt a fear like no other, the possibility of death sent a shiver down his spine, and that was only against Fari. He had encountered death before, and didn't want it to happen again. And he knew that _she _knew.

"Actually sensei, I have been feeling ill-"

"Darui, how do you feel about medicine?" asked Rei.

"What?" said Darui, confused at the sudden outburst.

"You know tablets, sick people, broken bones, etc. What I'm trying to say is, if you're scared of something, it doesn't make you weak-"

"But how does that link in to being a-"

"Just listen, being fearful makes us human, not weak. And it can show us the pathways to new roads, new destiny's, so if a person was, I don't know, afraid of death, you may become a medical ninja, you avoid other's feeling that fear, to save lives, and that is something now many people have achieved."

Darui absorbed every word like a sponge, hoping that he had found another way.

"So, if you don't want to fight tomorrow, because you're not feeling great, you should pop down to the medical centre; ask for Sakura Haruno, she'll be able to make things better."

"THANKS SENSEI" shouted Darui, tears nearly falling from his eyes. Without warning, he leapt towards her and was now hugging her around her waist.

"Thank you so much" Her joggers were now stained with his tears.

"That's ok, no need to cry" said Rei. She looked down, and saw a small face, beaming at her. It was the biggest smile she had ever seen. She didn't know what to do, not many people had been this forward to Rei, especially people she had only known for a few weeks. He let go soon after, a small blush touching his cheeks. He waved to her and ran off.

_Why was he so happy? Something must have happened…_

**With the Kazekage**

Gaara and Matsuri headed off on their 'date'. Matsuri was filled with excitement, she had imagined this moment many times over and was thrilled that her wish was finally coming true. She turned her head towards Gaara, her date, whose face was filled with his usual blank stare. But she didn't mind, because he was there with her. When his face finally turned to hers, she smiled a cute smile, looking to the ground whilst blushing; he merely turned towards the sky, seeing the first glitter of the stars.

_It feels like forever since I've last seen her. Why am I doing this?_

"So where did you want to go?" asked Matsuri, hoping to gain his full attention.

"I don't mind" answered Gaara, still staring at the stars. Matsuri followed his eye line, and saw above her the stars.

_He's so sweet._

"They are beautiful" spoke Matsuri in a soft tone, happiness resonating through her.

"I was just thinking of the time me and Rei, we-"

"Well let's go and have a look, me and you" she said, dragging him to a spot she knew. She sighed as the wind rushed past her hair. Part of her felt like giving up, dropping his wrist and running away. But thinking about Temari's words, she ran on, tighten her grip.

_I'm this far, and this may never happen again._

Gaara was shell shocked. He had not seen Matsuri like this before.

_Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Rei's name. God I've got to stop thinking about her._

Matsuri stopped suddenly. Gaara looked at her in confusion.

"Here it is" said Matsuri "I use to come to this place as a child with my mother, she use to tell me stories of how her and my father met." Matsuri took a seat on a bench and gestured Gaara to sit beside her.

"How did your parents meet?" asked Gaara. Matsuri smiled, not expecting him to be interested.

"Well, my father sort of landed on my mother" Gaara looked confused which caused Matsuri to laugh.

_He looks so cute like that._

"He was training or something; my mother had this theory that he was perving on some girls because the spa is in the same direction from which he flew from. And well, stars collided really, my mother escorted him to the medical room, and he said that she was so pretty it must have been destiny that they should meet like that, not that that really makes much sense, but it won my mother over"

"Did he know, in that one moment, that he would be with her for the rest of his life?" asked Gaara, looking up at the sky once again. Matsuri blushed.

_He's never shown this must interest in this topic, maybe I am having an effect on him._

"I think so, I've never asked" answered Matsuri, unsure of what else to say. Gaara continued to look at the sky, hoping to find more answer within their glow. Matsuri shuffled herself closer to him.

"Why are you asking me?" asked Matsuri, moving her face closer to his.

"No reason" said Gaara, heading towards the wall of Suna. The sky had come alive with the setting of the sun. The stars shown through the merging blue and black that would soon blanket the sky. He smiled.

"_It seems more like a painting then the sky"_

Against his own will Gaara smiled. Matsuri looked on in confusion.

"What are you looking at?" asked Matsuri.

"What do you see?" asked Gaara, "When you look up there?"

"I see stars, and the moon, beautiful yes, but it's the same every night, why?" said Matsuri, wondering if it was a trick question. Suddenly Gaara began to walk away.

"What's wrong?" said a worried Matsuri.

"Nothing" answered Gaara.

_**At the training grounds**_

Kankuro and Rei had been hard training for many hours, after Rei's lesson where Kankuro wandered in with a proposition.

_*Flashback*_

"Hey Rei-chan" shouted Kankuro, entering the classroom, "You're all finished today?"

"Yes, however I need to prepare for tomorrow, a distraction is something I do not need, Kankuro-san" answered Rei, looking down at the paper work.

"I guess you want me to give that to Gaara again?"

"Yes please" said Rei.

"Well I can't, you'll have to get Matsuri to do it, I'm sure she'd love-"

"Yes I'm sure she would, but I'm pretty sure she hates me, she has me as much as pirates hate ninjas"

"Well since you're so determined not to see Gaara or Matsuri then go on a date with me" spoke Kankuro, giving Rei and award winning grin, and a Gai-sensei thumb up. Rei stared blankly at him.

"No, I have training to do today" replied Rei, turning back to her paperwork.

"Aw come on you train every day! What if I train with you?" asked Kankuro.

_Hm, well I haven't had a training partner in some time…_

"Ok, I'll train with you, but it is not a date!" shouted Rei, "We'll start in 10minutes, and I'll meet you at the training grounds"

"Awesome!" shouted Kankuro, running towards the grounds.

_*End of flashback*_

"We've been training for hours! I'm beat!" said Kankuro, during gasps of air. Rei stared at Kankuro and burst out laughing.

"Where do you get the energy to laugh!" said Kankuro weakly.

"The energy badger!" shouted Rei, a bizarre seriousness across her face which made Kankuro wince.

"No but seriously, why do you train so much?" said Kankuro, rolling to his side. Rei sat up slowly, looking over the curious Kankuro.

"Because that's all I know how to do" she said, rising slowly to her feet. She turned back to Kankuro and smiled: "It's not a very interesting story, doesn't contain any pirates" Kankuro, amongst his confusion still managed to chuckle. Before he could get in another word, she began to walk away. It was clear to Kankuro that she would be harder to crack then most eggs.

"I had fun on this date!" shouted Kankuro; he could hear the light sounds of laughter which brought a smile to his face.

_Maybe Temari will have better luck getting through to her._


	13. Chapter 13

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: The day starts well, but doesn't end well.

Chapter 13-

It was the day after Rei's 'date' with Kankuro, she felt that today was going to be a good day because of the fresh morning breeze that she rose to this morning.

_Well it's either that or a bad omen, but I'm too optimistic for that!_

However she had read the sign wrong when she saw her report sitting on the desk in the kitchen.

_Bugger, Kankuro planned this! The cheeky weasel! I should just man up and return it! I mean it's not like I fancy him anymore, I don't think about him that often!_

When she looked up at the clock, she realised that she only had 15 minutes before her lesson began.

_Oh hell!_

She grabbed her bag of supplies and rushed off to the academy.

_He can have it later._

_**With Gaara**_

It was a fresh day for Gaara because he too felt that it would be a good one. He was able to fall into dream last night, achieving approximately 4 hours of sleep. He arose from his bed with the sun shining through the blinds. The light adorned his cheeks, allowing him to drift away from his dreams. He got up, placed on his ninja robes and headed downstairs, following the sounds of Temari cooking him breakfast. She liked to make him breakfast every morning, even though it didn't always taste good. She wanted to be a big sister to him, so making sure he was 'powered up' for the day was a way of doing so.

"Good morning!" said Temari smiling uncontrollably.

"Good morning, why are you so cheery?" asked Gaara, keeping his facial expression in neutral. He never wanted to show Temari, but he secretly liked the talks they had.

"Well, a little bird told me you were on a date with Matsuri-chan last night" spoke Temari, seating herself next to Gaara. Gaara's head dropped to look at the food before him. "Did you have fun?"

"The stroll was pleasant" answered Gaara, tucking into his food. Temari smiled.

_Maybe he does like Matsuri…_

"What made you decide to go anyway? It doesn't seem like something you would do" asked Temari, hoping she hadn't insulted her younger sibling.

_Should I tell her it was for Rei, I don't want to make Matsuri look bad…_

"No reason" said Gaara.

_**With Rei**_

"Where are they? They're not normally this late" Rei had been sitting in the classroom for 10 minutes and only Rinkato and Mei had arrived.

"Sensei when is the lesson going to start?" asked Rinkato, moaning like a baby.

"Do you 2 know of any reason why they would be late?" asked Rei, arising from her seat. Rinkato and Mei looked at each other, hoping to find an answer in each other's eyes, but no luck. They shrugged, not knowing what there sensei would do next.

"You 2 stay here, if I'm not back within the hour find Goro-sama. Complete the question on the board"

"NO WAY WE'RE COMING TO" Rei turned around and was shocked to hear that Mei had shouted that and not Rinkato. "They're our friends, we want to help, right Rinkato?" said Mei, turning to her friend.

"RIGHT!" yelled Rinkato, pushing his fist in the air. Rei smiled and turned back towards the door.

"Well come on then"

The trio ran through the streets of Suna, over roof tops and through back alleys.

"Sensei, are we heading to where I think we're heading" cried Mei. Rei nodded, hoping that her students didn't fear this place as much as everyone else did. As they began to reach their destination, the sounds of crying could be heard.

_What is going on?_

They had reached the spot, where Rei first stood on her 2nd day in Suna and looked upon an appalling sight. The desolated building that sheltered her students from the blaring heat of the sun, and the cold winds of the night was burning. Her students were standing at the sides and watched it burned. Tera, Fari and Darui were in tears, every small thing that they had owned was now gone, banished to the flames. Tweedledum and Keno looked over the flames with anger. There were sand jounin around the flames, dousing the fire furnace. Before they could be stopped, Mei and Rinkato ran over to their fellow students; however they did not receive the welcome they had hoped.

"Why are you here!" shouted Keno, attempting to hold back the tears.

"We were just-"

"Worried, you didn't turn up to the lesson" said Rei, cutting of Rinkato before he had the chance to say something stupid.

"What happened?" asked Rei.

"How are we supposed to know?" answered Tweedledum. "One minute we were getting ready to go to the academy, and the next minute the adults are pulling us out of the buildings crying fire, fire!"

"Where are the adults now?" enquired Rei. Tweedledum didn't speak, didn't need to speak. She lifted her finger and pointed towards the sounds of laughter.

_Why are they laughing?_

"Stay together, I'm going to get to the bottom of this"

Tweedledum looked at her sensei who was heading in the direction of the laughing man, her father.

_She's going to fail._

"Excuse me" said Rei, poking the laughing gentlemen in the back. She flashed him a fake smile, "Could you tell me what's so funny? I like a good joke." The man stared at the ninja before him and caught sight of her headband. "Don't get involved, Konoha scum!" Rei kept calm, she knew how to control her emotions, even though all she wanted to do was smack the man into next year.

"Well, what's so funny?" asked Rei again, staying as polite as she could. The man sneered at her.

"None of your business!" she shouted, walking off in the direction of the children. He stopped in front of them, turning his head slowly, looking down at them. The children immediately stopped crying, stopped moving. To Rei, it looked like Tweedledum had stopped breathing. The man fired a look of disappointment at Tweedledum before walking off.

Rei looked at the building, which now had areas smeared in a black coat. She walked towards it, sniffing the wall. She placed her finger on the black substance and placed it on her tongue.

_Urgh! Oil, this was no accident._

She spat the substance out and headed towards the sounds of a familiar voice.

"The fire's out sir!"

"Good, now return to your duties, I will sort the people out" instructed Ashita Goro.

"Goro- sama, what happened here?" asked Rei, hoping to receive a polite answer in comparison to her earlier encounter.

"A freak accident" he answered bluntly. She could tell he didn't want to discuss it with her.

"But you and I both know that's not true" said Rei. Goro looked at her with a cold stare, which she humbly returned.

"Don't get involved with things that don't concern you, now do me a favour and take the students to have their lesson" He couldn't look at her.

"Yes Goro- sama" said Rei, bowing to her senior. Goro turned his head away in shame.

_I'm sorry, but I have a duty to this village._

_**With Gaara**_

"Gaara-kun, there's been a fire on the outskirts of the village!" shouted Matsuri as she burst through the door. Gaara's eye shot up.

"Issue some jounin to control the situation, and make sure no one gets hurt" ordered Gaara.

"There are already jounin down there, they reported that no one was hurt" said Matsuri.

_Why was I not informed earlier?_

"Who issued that order? And why was I not informed first" asked Gaara, attempting to contain the anger that began to brew within him.

"I am unsure" spoke Matsuri. Gaara proceeded to walk out of his office.

_Surely they didn't…_

_**At the academy**_

All the children sat in an uncomfortable silence. It took a while for Rei to convince the children to head back to the academy. Tera and Darui were still shedding tears, but wiped each one away as if they were embarrassed. Rei walked over holding a box of tissues.

"There's nothing wrong with sadness, it's what makes us human" spoke Rei, re-calling her own crying incident in her head.

"What's going to happen now?" asked Fari.

"We must wait for Goro-sensei to return" replied Rei, placing herself on the desk.

"It wasn't an accident" said Tweedledum, anger resonating through her voice.

"Why would anyone do that?" cried Tera.

"Because everyone hates us!" shouted Keno, tears welling up in his eyes. "They want to get rid of us, we're just a nuisance!" Tears now spilled from his eyes, "even my parents didn't want me!" Tera leaped towards him, and held him in a tight embrace.

"My parents left me to, you don't have to be afraid" spoke Tera tenderly.

"You all have each other, as long as you remember that you'll never be alone" said Rei, trying to reassure her students.

"But where are we going to go now?" asked Darui, crying at the sweet embrace in front of him.

At that moment, their old sensei walked through the door. Tera and Keno immediately let each other go, blushes creeping across their cheeks. Everyone wiped their tears away, not wanting to look sad and weak in front of Ashita Goro. Rei looked him straight into his eyes, with no emotion. Goro found it frightening.

_Has she really gotten that close to them?_

"What happens now Goro-same?" asked Rei, remaining as monotone as she could.

"You will be taken to a new home" For a brief moment all the students smiled, for a brief moment they all believed that they would now live better lives.

"Outside of the village, in the nearby town, there are homes that you and your parents can stay in" The moment died. Rei looked at her students and could see that each of them was distraught. The students said nothing, as if that piece of news had sucked their voice boxes out of them. Rei was just as shocked.

_This isn't right._

"Goro-sama, may I speak to you outside, please?" said Rei, heading for the door. He nodded and followed her outside.

"How can this happen? You know aswell as I do that that incident was no accident, and what a coincidence that the nearby village has a home ready to take the children all the adults can live in. And what about their studies? Every student in there has the potential to be great ninjas, if they were just given the chance I would already recommend a few for the genin exams" said Rei, as quietly as she could, coveting the anger that she felt. Goro stared at her, he could see through the calm mask that fired burned beneath her eyes.

_I'm sorry Rei._

"If you have any questions then you must take it up with the Kazekage, the children are to meet at the entry point of the village at 6:00pm, no later, make sure they are there." spoke Goro, not able to look Rei in the eye. He instantly turned and walked away. Rei watched as the distance grew further and further apart. As soon as he had gone…BANG! Rei's fist flew directly at the wall and, unfortunately for her, came out the other side. The students stared at the fist that was covered in wall dust. Tweedledum was stunned, never before had she seen her sensei like this. Rei's fist slowly curled out of the whole, she beheld the whole she had created.

"Oh dear, I'll fix that later"

"What's happened Rei-sensei" asked Fari, walking towards her.

"You are to meet your parents by the entry gate 6, a jounin will escort you to the village where you will stay until further notice" spoke Rei.

"Until further notice? I assume this will be permanent" spoke Tweedledum. Rei could tell that she was still angry.

"Well if you lot are gone what point am I to be here?" said Rei, laughing out loud. Many of the student's faces dropped to sadness. In an instant they realised that they would be having no more lessons with Rei. Not many of them would admit it, but they actually grew to like her.

"What about us?" asked Rinkato, upset because he knew what would happen.

"Logic dictates that you will be put back into your old class" said Rei, knowing full well that she would not just be able to teach Rinkato and Mei.

"But I don't want to go back to our old class, I like this one" spoke Mei whilst a tear trickled down her face.

"Go, enjoy your day here in the village, I'll come and wave you off" instructed Rei.

"Promise" said Darui, a sense of pleading bleeding out of his eyes.

"I promise" They couldn't believe she said it. Slowly, one by one, they got up and trudged out of the door. The door finally closed with a harsh slam, as if telling Rei that that was the end.

_I'm not giving up that easily._

_**With Gaara**_

After the incident, Gaara had called the council together for an emergency meeting. The spoke for what seemed like hours, none of them wanted to discuss the fire incident, all agreeing the 'accident façade' but Gaara knew otherwise. He then popped. Gaara had reached his boiling point; no one on his council would lie to him! No one would keep secrets from him about his village! The village he is supposed to protect. With a hard fist to the table he shouted:

"Don't lie to me! I know that one of you sent those jounin to put out the fire before I was informed, now why!"

The council were shaking in their boots. They had not seen Gaara, who was so usually calm and collected, be overcome by rage and allow himself to force it upon them. They all turned away, knowing that 'the jig was up'.

"Kazekage, please understand, it was for the safety of the village"

Gaara was shocked, but was willing to listen.

AN: Hello, I hope you're enjoying the story. It gets more exciting from here. =]


	14. Chapter 14

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei barges into the meeting, causing uproar, Shikamaru comes to her rescue but will this be the end of her mission? And the first one she's ever failed?

Chapter 14- No More Secrets

Rei, after waving her students off marched straight towards the Kazekage tower, determination leading the way.

_I don't want to; it'll ruin the progress I've made on… I must for the students! Got to get through Matsuri first, that'll be one hell of a battle._

She reached the office area where she had pumped herself up for a cat fight with Matsuri, but all that energy was wasted when she saw no one in there. Everything was silent. She headed in the direction of Gaara's office. She stood in front of his door, fist rising slowly to knock.

_Ok Rei, you can do this, your first test. You here for you students, you have your objective, remember that objective._

With a might pushed she moved the door open and shouted:

"Kazekage I have something to talk to you about, I refuse to believe that the students I teach need to be moved to another- ooo" Rei had her eyes closed the whole time and didn't notice that he wasn't in there.

_Well that was embarrassing._

"And here I thought I could get some piece and quite, what are you doing?" asked Shikamaru as he poked his head around the corner.

"Oh hi Shikamaru, I just wanted to speak to the Kazekage about something"

"I could hear that, is it about your students?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes, I need to know the truth" she said. Shikamaru was shocked at how determined she was.

"I would stay out of it if I were you" replied Shikamaru.

"But I need to know! Besides aren't you supposed to be with the council?" asked Rei.

"Well noticed, but no, they have a meeting with the Kaze-" Rei shot off in an instance, knowing that Shikamaru would try and stop her.

"I shouldn't have said that"

He gazed in the direction she ran off in.

_I've never seen her like this about anything. This mission really was good for her, but what's going to happen now?_

Rei was now making her way to the council chambers.

_This must be big for Gaara to have to summon the whole council._

But nothing would stop Rei. It was now her mission to get the children, her student's permission to stay in the village. That was her mission. Nothing else mattered.

"What are you doing- hey! You can't go in-" shouted Matsuri. Rei pushed her away and gave her a cold glare.

"I'm sorry but I have to save my students" answered Rei with a serious tone.

Without pause of hesitation she barged her way into the council room. All eyes where upon her, just like when she first walked into the academy classroom.

_I think I felt more nervous then._

"How dare you barge in here? And who are you to-"

"Kazekage-sama, I must talk to you" said Rei, heading straight towards Gaara chair.

_Kazekage-sama?_

"Could you not have waited?" spoke Gaara, who seemed more annoyed then calm. Rei was surprised at his tone of voice.

"No, this is urgent and requires your full attention and I suspect the attention of the council"

"Kazekage-sama, I don't see why we have to-"

"Silence!" demanded Gaara. "Speak Rei-san"

"Yes, right, well it has come to my attention that the students have I have been assigned to teach are being moved-"

"You'll be assigned a new class" spoke one of the council members, who was old and looked so wrinkly his faced appeared as it was melting off the bone. He was the one shouting at Rei earlier.

"No that's not the point I'm trying to make" Rei tried to remain civil but was finding it very hard.

"There is no other point to make. The agreement has been finalised. You can leave now" said the council member, pointing at the door.

Rei's time bomb that had been ticking ever since she found out about the situation was almost ready to explode, but she would try the civil approach one more time. She took a deep in breath, and said: "The students have the potential to become great ninja's if they were just given-"

"They will live happier lives beyond the village walls now I insist you leave!"

The countdown had ended.

"You said; the agreement has been finalised. Tell me, what agreement was this?" The council members face dropped, he was now worried. He had let his tongue slip. All the other members of the council stared at him with contempt.

"Speak up, your being awful silent over there" said Rei, sending a cold stare at the council member. If looks could kill, he would be on the floor clutching his heart, squirming at her feet. But they don't, he did feel and uncontrollable fear that coursed through every vein in his body. Making his blood go cold, sending chills up his spine.

"And why were the children not asked beforehand?"

"They were and they happily-" spoke an older lady, trying to calm the tension in the room.

"Do not lie to me! Those children have no desire to leave this village as I have no desire to watch them go! Is it because there young and you think they don't understand? Is it because they haven't reached that age where their voices could be heard in the highest mountains? Because they know, they are not fools! They will not be coveted by this false 'happy life' pretence. Do you know how they feel? Can you even begin to understand what it's like to feel like no one wants you; that you're all alone in this world; that you're in a crowded room screaming at the top of your lungs yet no one even bothers to look down! No. You can't even begin to comprehend that type of sadness and sometimes it feels worse than death. They have the potential to be great shinobi if only they were given the chance. Please, I am asking you, begging you, let them stay. Let them decide where they want to go"

Everyone was silent. Rei was breathing heavily, as if she had put her life and soul into those words and had no more left to give. Gaara was stunned without showing it in his face. No one had ever dared speak to the council in such a manner, even he felt he had to control his rage which hadn't let slip until today. He couldn't take his eyes of her. He gazed deeply in them and saw nothing but loneliness.

_She understands them._

_**Outside the Council chamber**_

Shikamaru, who had followed Rei, stood outside the room leaning against the wall.

_I've never heard her like this before. Truly she has changed._

"Why does she care so much anyway?" asked Matsuri, whose ear was pressed against the door.

"You wouldn't understand" answered Shikamaru.

"Hm, try me!" said Matsuri. Shikamaru shook his head and watched the sky out of the window.

_No clouds today._

_**Inside the Council chamber**_

The tension that filled the room could be cut like a knife through butter. A horrible silence occupied every corner and every second that passed caused Rei's heart to ache.

_Why won't they say anything?_

Rei observed the faces of the council members: some were of sadness, some of shame, some of anger and some of nothing. That was Gaara's face. Rei was saddened by this, but wouldn't let up.

_Surely he would understand, after everything he's gone through._

But nothing changed.

"I'm sorry, but the deal has been finalised" Not a second longer Rei walked out of the door, with her head held high. She would not let them see her sad, she wouldn't give them that joy. The door closed with a harsh slam. She had failed.

She was about to walk past when she was stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Shikamaru smiling at her.

"I'm proud of you, come on, I'll buy you ramen" Rei sent a small smile his way. She realised how much his friendship truly meant to her.

"Thank you" she replied.

_**In the Council chamber**_

Gaara still stared longingly at the door, hoping that she would come back in.

"Kazekage-sama, you do understand that it is for the good of the village?" asked an old woman on Gaara's left.

"I have paperwork to finish off, this council meeting has ended" spoke Gaara as he headed out of the door.

_She probably hates me._

_**At the a Ramen stand**_

"Well it's not Ichiraku's but it'll do just fine" said Rei, who sounded significantly cheerer than before. Shikamaru laughed.

_Anyone else would be sad, but Rei always finds ways to perk herself up._

"Oh by the way, in case you're wondering, I haven't given up" said Rei. "I'm just going to use the sensible approach instead of the angry one"

"You admitting you were angry?" said Shikamaru, knowing that is something Rei wouldn't usually face.

"I was, but it wasn't the bad kind of angry, as in I didn't get angry because of selfish reasons, I got angry about unselfish reasons, if that makes sense"

"Not at all" said Shikamaru, knowing full well what she meant. Rei laughed.

"You should apologise to Gaara and to Matsuri, you did barge in on his meeting and he also allowed you to speak to the council, I doubt he would let just anyone do that." Rei's eyes appeared to have fallen out of her head. She dropped her head almost landing it in the bowl in front of her attempting to hide the blush that appeared on her face.

_O why did he have to say that?_

She watched the whirling of the noodles hoping to find an answer amongst the beef pieces.

"The ramen isn't going to give you answers" said Shikamaru smiling at his weird companion.

"Not this time anyway" said Rei. She took a deep in breath.

_I should say something to him. Maybe if I got to talk to him alone, he would be able to see where I'm coming from._

"Thank you Shikamaru, for everything" And with that, she headed back towards the tower. Shikamaru looked down her the desk and saw a small piece of paper.

_And she left me with the bill. Great._

_**The Kazekage Office**_

Gaara returned immediately to his office and no one dared to disturb him. To world beyond his office, he was filling in forms, but the truth was he was racking his brains trying to find answers, to what seemed to be the unanswerable question:

_Who is she?_

He sat, glued to his seat staring out of his window, hoping to find answers within the sky. He didn't move, he just gazed in every passing cloud, every bird, but nothing.

_Why is she so puzzling? And why do I need to know so bad! Maybe I should just ask…_

At that moment there was a light knock at the door. He turned his head too quickly, which caused his neck to click. Discomfort coated his face. Without asking, the bizarre ninja walked through the door.

_**10 minutes beforehand**_

Rei had reached the tower and was beginning to feel nervous. The butterflies were flying around the pit of her stomach and her throat felt like it was clogging up.

_So, this is what they call nervous. Come on Rei! All you're doing is apologising and asking him to reconsider._

She entered the building and found Temari, Kankuro and Matsuri standing around Matsuri's desk talking. Matsuri scowled at Rei, she blamed her for Gaara's current attitude and for pushing her earlier.

_Probably discussing earlier events._

"Hello Rei-chan, what are you doing here?" inquired Temari.

"I've come to apologise" said Rei, looking in Matsuri's direction. Matsuri turned her head towards the floor, humiliated from being so easily moved by such a weird ninja.

"I'm sorry Matsuri, I-"

"Look I don't care about your apology, I don't want it and I don't need it! All I care about is Gaara-kun, who has asked me not to allow anyone to disturb him! I hate to see him like this!" Matsuri unwittingly let a tear loose. Rei was stunned; she viewed the salty tear that stroked Matsuri's cheek before releasing itself from her skin to land at her feet. It was soon followed by many more. Rei admired each fallen tear; it was as if time had slowed down. Rei grew sad; as if each tear was drowning the happiness that she felt with Shikamaru earlier.

_How could I have been so ignorant to her feelings? I'm a fool._

Rei hung her head in shame, silenced by Matsuri's tears. She couldn't apologise again, knowing it would just aggravate her. However, Matsuri said something that Rei thought she would never hear.

"I just want him to be happy, so go and apologise! Go and apologise right now!" cried Matsuri, pointing in the direction of his office.

Rei stepped near Matsuri, glanced her way once more.

"Thank you Matsuri"

"Just go" said Matsuri, who had wiped her face of her tears.

Rei nodded and walked off.

"Do you think she'll be able to do it?" asked Kankuro.

"I guess we'll find out later" said Temari.

_**In Gaara's Office**_

They stood in silence, for what seemed like forever, both unsure of what to say, both feeling that if they opened there mouths a slur of noise would be heard instead of sentences, however they hide the inner torment with emotionless faces.

_It's like looking into a mirror at my former self. He doesn't want me here._

_Should I ask her now? Why did she come here?_

Rei curved herself away.

_Now I know how Matsuri feels, how everyone feels. _

She took a step towards the door but was suddenly stopped. Out of instinct Gaara reached out his hands and grabbed her wrist harshly. Rei turned her head suddenly, exposing the blush that had conquered her cheeks.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" asked Gaara, releasing her wrist after realising what he had done.

Rei looked down; her facial expression had now betrayed her. All emotion of sadness and shame spilled onto face.

"I'm sorry" she murmured. Gaara was stunned, now his eyes had betrayed him.

_Why is she apologising?_

Rei looked into his eyes and could once again see the deep pool of loneliness; this was Rei who felt like she was taking the plunge.

"I shouldn't have barged into your meeting; it was rude and foolish of me to do so-"

"You don't have-"

"Thank you, it means a lot to me that you let me speak and I hope I didn't make you look bad, because that wasn't my intention, I wouldn't want to do that to you" Rei face was now tinted with pink, which she attempted to hide by admiring the floor.

"Why do you care so much? About that children I mean"

Care! cried Rei.

_Does she not know 'care'? Are we really that similar?_

Rei continued to stare at the floor, hoping that a black hole would form beneath her so that she may fall through.

_Is that what I'm surely, I thought it was my duty as their sensei to help them succeed, to act upon what is best for them, but I suppose I would have given up by now and followed the orders of the council. I didn't know…didn't realise, and Gaara…_

"I suppose I do" Gaara was shocked.

"It's weird isn't it, at the strangest moments you realise the most important things" said Rei smiling, as she headed towards the window.

"And what have you realised?" asked Gaara, following her to the window.

"It's a secret" giggled Rei, sending a cheeky wink at Gaara. He blushed slightly, he had seen girls do this to him before, but none caused his stomach to produce his own set of butterflies.

_He's cute like that._

"It's strange seeing you like this" chuckled Rei, noticing his face's change in colour. Gaara looked at her with confusion.

"You look like a pirate whose been given sake and not rum!"

AN: Sorry for delayed update, I had troubles with this chapter. Enjoy! :)


	15. Chapter 15

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: After saying goodbye to her class she heads back with her team mates for dinner but doesn't expect it to bring up old memories.

Chapter 15: Goodbye For Now

Rei was leaning against the large stone wall which surrounded Suna, protecting it from the vicious sandstorms that struck fear into the hearts of the people. They came every so often, like unwanted guests who came to give Suna one vicious hug. Ever since her team had been there, there were 2 sandstorms, but they weren't very fierce, more like children playing a game of knock down ginger. Rei looked out into the desert, beyond the guards and stone walls, to the far reaches of the sand, but she saw only dust. Where once beauty was, was now a desolate land. The sand spirals in the wind only made the desert seem more vast than usual. To Rei, the desert was a mirror, reflecting her inner most feelings. She had come to accept that she did more than train her students, she cared for them and it took Gaara for her to realise that.

_Will he come to wave them goodbye?_

Rei blushed at the thought.

_Why would he? Why would anyone…_

"Hey what are you waiting for?" shouted a jounin.

"So you finally noticed I've been here for 10 minutes" said Rei. The jounin scoffed at Rei's remark and walked back to his post.

"I'm waiting for my students"

"The ones leaving the village?" Rei nodded.

"Strange, not many people gave much of a single thought for them"

"Well, I'm not most people" Rei said, growling under her breath.

"You can say that again" said the jounin, continuing his trek towards his post.

_The usual reception when meeting new people, sometimes nothing changes._

After a few minutes, Rei sensed the chakra and felt the sand shift as she observed her students, their parents and a few jounin head towards the gate. She looked upon the faces of her students but only saw their heads flop towards the sand, misery reined their faces as they walked like slaves, each footstep seeming heavier than the last. The only one who face rose to the sky was Tweedledum, but her face was not of anger, but of sadness, her eyes wandered over every street, every detail of Suna, like she was re-tracing memories. Rei walked towards them, hoping that her presence would bring hope into their fragile hearts. The parents glared at her.

_So, someone told them what happened in the council chamber. Oh well._

Tweedledum looked at the gates and noticed her sensei. Her fellow students ran towards her but she had the decorum to walked at a fast pace, even now she wanted to keep her reputation intact. The parents continued to glare at Konoha ninja, but didn't try to stop their children from running towards her.

"Sensei!" shouted Darui, who trailed behind the rest. Rei rested her knees down to the sand, so as to be at eye level with her students. However, before she could speak she was interrupted by another voice.

"HEY! DON'T GO YET!" shouted Rinkato and Mei, who ran at top speed. All of the others were shocked by their arrival; none of them expected them to show up.

"Do you really have to go?" asked Mei, embracing Tera tightly. They all looked into the eyes of their sensei, hoping she will have the answer they seek.

"I will do all I can to have you brought back here, I give you my word as a shinobi" said Rei smiling at her students.

"We believe you" spoke Tweedledum, Rei observed her move closer to the group. She was awe-struck by the confidence Tweedledum and all of her students had for her. Without realising it, a tear welled up in her eye, but before it could reveal itself and her feelings to her students, it was interrupted by a familiar jounin.

"It's time to go, we have a schedule to keep" spoke Ashita Goro, walking back to the parents.

"Be strong all of you, and keep up on the training, when I see you next I expect you all to be 100 times better than you are now" Just as she was about to rise, Darui jumped on her into a hug, followed by Tera and Mei, the boys felt far to 'cool' to hug their sensei, but Darui didn't care.

"I have a gift for you Darui" said Rei. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a book named 'Medical Ninjutsus: Volume 1' "I'm only on volume 2" giggled Rei. "You've got to start somewhere." Darui smiled as he took the book.

"Come now!" shouted Goro clearly impatient and unhappy with the job at hand.

"By the way, Tweedledum, what is your name?" asked Rei, hoping that in this moment of sadness, the stubborn ninja would let her hard pretence fade.

"I'll tell you when you succeed your mission" answered Tweedledum.

"I'll hold- you to that!" shouted Rei as Tweedledum walked towards the others.

Rei waved the students goodbye as they walked through the gates of Suna, she watched her students enter the desert and disappear amongst the clouds of dust. Suddenly her heart sank, as she was left standing alone, again. For 10 minutes she stood staring into the open, hoping that there figures will appear in the sand again. Next to her were Rinkato and Mei, doing the same thing. But all was silent.

A few moments later the sand shifted again, Rei noticed, but she didn't turn her head, she was too encapsulated by the fading images in the sand.

"Can you really get them back?" asked Mei, tugging on Rei's braces, bringing her out of her trance. Rei looked down and saw the pleading eyes of Mei.

"I hope so"

"Hey" spoke a voice from behind. Rei turned and saw Shikamaru and Sakura heading towards her, waving and smiling. Her face, however remained neutral, not even their company could lift her spirits, not that she would let them know that. She smiled a false smile.

_I can't be sad._

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" asked Rei.

"We wanted to make sure you were ok" said Sakura.

"Yeah I'm fine" laughed Rei, trying to force out the sadness through laughter. Sakura looked puzzled.

"Oh, I'm being rude, Shikamaru, Sakura, these are my students Rinkato and Mei"

"Hey" spoke Mei and Rinkato quietly, it was obvious that neither was in the mood for happy introductions.

"Come on you 2, you're the jolliest people I know, and you can't let this get you down, hopefully the council will still allow me to train with you 2, now go home, it's getting late" They both nodded and headed off home.

"Now you have to come home" spoke an insistent Shikamaru.

"I haven't trained today and-"

"No you're coming home for dinner, whether you like it or not!" demanded Sakura. She then grabbed Rei by the wrist and dragged her back towards the tower.

_Well, maybe some company will help._

**At Dinner**

"It's been the first time in a few weeks since we've all sat down and had dinner like this" said Sakura, tucking into the chicken noodle dish made by Rei.

"I guess that's my fault, well I hope I've made it up to by cooking my favourite dish" said Rei.

"You mean, the only dish you can cook which is half decent" said Shikamaru, silencing the weird ninja.

"Where are Temari and Kankuro?" asked Sakura.

"They are on a mission" answered Shikamaru.

"And Gaara?" asked Rei, taking a seat at the table. Sakura smile grew into a hideous grin and she began poking Rei's sides. Shikamaru laughed at his weird friend and the red display on her face.

"He should be here in a moment, but he doesn't come to dinner much anymore either"

"Why?"

"Not sure, but he is the Kazekage, so he's probably filling in forms or something"

"Or maybe it's that-MMMMHH" muffled Sakura after have chicken stuffed into her mouth by Rei.

"Don't say it!"

At that exact moment, Gaara walked in on the image of Rei stretched over the table driving chicken into the loud mouth of Sakura.

_Weird_

Rei and Sakura froze in that position, Rei felt the pink rise to her cheeks, so in order to hide her tinted features she pulled her body, however she didn't aim her bottom for the seat of her chair, so she landed on the back rest. This ended in a one way trip to the floor, leaving her legs dangling in the air.

Shikamaru and Sakura stared at her unfortunate predicament and then continued to laugh at her until their faces turned blue and they themselves fell off their chairs, joining Rei on the floor. Gaara observed the situation and couldn't help but chuckle over his fellow comrades. Rei glanced over at the red head and couldn't help but smile.

_He really should smile more often._

They all rose from the floor and Rei walked towards the spare plate of food she made for Gaara.

"I was kind of hoping you'd be home for dinner, I made it for you, just to say thanks, again"

They both looked at each other, captured by each other's gaze, separated only by a plate of chicken noodles.

"Hope you enjoy my nicken choodle dinner- I mean my dicken noodle chinner, no wait-I-eh-forget it" said Rei, dropping her head in shame.

"I'm sure it'll taste fine" said Gaara taking a seat at the table.

Sakura and Shikamaru could feel the tension in the room, Shikamaru felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave, but Sakura had an evil grin on her face.

_Oh no, what's she planning?_

_Hehe, it's time for Sakura's amazing love matching skills to come into play. CHA!_

Rei caught the glimpse in her eye and began to fear the idea of being humiliated.

"Well I'm just about done maybe I should-"

"NO, eh I mean, you should stay, we haven't been able to sit down and talk in a while and lets not talk about training because that's all you talk about" said Sakura.

"Well that's all I know" spoke Rei, tucking into her dinner.

"Why is that?" asked Gaara.

_Ah! My plan worked like a charm! He wants to know about her!_

Rei looked up at Gaara who just stared at her blankly.

_Maybe she'll open up if she's more relaxed._

_Would she really tell him?_

"Because I'm not that bright" said Re, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well that's a lie! You were the smartest student in our class when you moved to the village, as much as I hate to admit it and you weren't as weird back then" shouted Sakura, before closing her hand over her mouth, realising that she had said too much. Shikamaru just gave Sakura an annoyed looked.

_Troublesome_

"You're not from Konoha?" asked Gaara. Rei paused for a moment, and contemplated on lying to him.

_I can't do that._

Rei shook her head.

"Then where are you from?" asked Gaara.

Shikamaru looked at Rei with the slightest sympathy.

_She doesn't want to do this._

"So Gaara, had much paper work to do today?" asked Shikamaru, hoping to change the subject.

_Shikamaru…_

"I don't know where I come from, well sort of, I don't know my parents"

Shikamaru eyes grew wide.

_I can't believe it…_

Rei began to prod the chicken on her plate.

"Hey Sakura, I need to show you something" said Shikamaru, grabbing Sakura by the wrist and pulling her out of the room.

"Hey!" but before she could say another word, they were both gone, leaving Rei and Gaara in the kitchen alone.

_*Flashback*_

An 8 year old Rei sat on a rock, back straight with her arms placed softly on her lap. She was so still, so blank that if anyone had walked past her, they would have thought she was a statue. She sat alone, surrounded by trees and a building that anyone could mistake for a 'home'. To Rei it had merely been a shelter for the past 8 years and one she was about to leave behind for another. The building behind her howeverm was in ruin: covered in scorch marks with debris falling from all corners. It was obvious that there had been a fire, a battle, but Rei sat completely oblivious to the destruction.

She was not the only one to have lived there, 3 other children of different ages, (2 younger, 1 older) had also resided there, doing what she did. But they were not siblings, not friends, if you had seen them together; you would not have thought that they would have bonded in anyway. The small group that had resided in the building were told that they were to be taken back to their villages in which they were born, their home. There was an eerie silence as she waited for her 'parents' to come and collect her. All the other children had left, not filled with excitement or adrenaline as there parents stepped out of the trees and into plain sight, not like other children would have been, the thought didn't even occur to Rei that she would feel anything at all, not even the passing moments could bring forth this suggestion.

After a while, 2 men, who she recognised as Konoha jounin, revealed themselves from the trees under growth. She observed them as they stepped closer and closer towards her. One had grey spikey hair with one eye covered by his headband, the other was wearing green spandex and had bowl cut hair, and neither really seemed that threatening. There was an awkward silence she stared at the men before her, she didn't move, not even an inch, she just stared and for the first time wondered:

_Where are my parents?_

That was when one of the men spoke.

"Hello, my name is Maito Gai and this is my comrade Kakashi Hatake, are you Rei?" spoke the man in the green. Rei stayed silent for a few moments, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Yes, I assume that my 'parents' are not here?" replied Rei standing up from the rock.

Gai and Kakashi looked at the girl with sadness, but Rei only responded with her usual blank expression.

"I'll take your silence as a yes and since the others were collected by their parents I assume that mine are either no longer existent or do not wish to claim me as their daughter"

The men didn't know what to say and where shocked at how articulate and intelligent the young girl was.

_What did he do to her?_

"No matter, it would not and does not affect my duty" said Rei.

"And what is your duty?" asked Kakashi, curious of what her answer would be.

"To become strong in order to protect the innocence" spoke Rei walking towards the forest.

_*End of flashback*_

Rei still prodded the chicken as she remembered the first time she met Kakashi and Gai. Gaara watched her intently hoping that she would give some sign that would show she had dropped her guard. Then Rei smirked at the thought that she may have considered that Gai and Kakashi may have been her parents. Gaara looked confused.

"Who needs parents? I have my friends and my sensei's and that's all I need" said Rei, smiling at Gaara.

_I can't tell him, not yet._

Gaara could see that she didn't want to speak about it anymore.

_Maybe another day, it must have been a painful time for her, just like mine was._

AN: Hope you enjoy it! Rei's story will make more sense as the story progresses.


	16. Chapter 16

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Gaara and the council assign Rei to a new class but things don't go to plan and Rei realises how much she misses them.

Chapter 16: The New Class

**2 days after her students had left.**

Rei woke up and started her morning routine. She had a few bandages that she needed to re-dress because the day before consisted of pulverising as many blocks of wood as she could in order to relieve her anger. It was the start of a fresh week and she had been assigned to a new class. The weekend consisted of Rei trying to convince Gaara to have her only train Mei and Rinkato, but the council insisted on sticking to the agreed mission contract between Suna and Konoha. As she walked towards the academy she remembered her first day at the academy and wondered if she would receive the same cold welcome. She strolled towards the door of the classroom but before she came close to knocking, a loud roar of students could be heard, like crazed monkeys at a zoo.

_Well, it certainly isn't Goro-sensei in there._

As she stepped closer and closer, the noise grew louder until she knocked, and all went silent. Because she had done this once before, she didn't feel as nervous so she didn't need to give herself a pep talk before walking in. The students watched her enter, some intently, some not, most didn't seem to care. But this only lasted a moment because the students almost immediately started talking again. The woman sat at the desk was young, with dirty blonde her that was done up in a ponytail, she was clutching the hairs on her head, making it look like it had been attacked by static electricity.

_That's definitely not Ashita Goro._

Rei, realising that the jounin, or chuunin (She couldn't quite tell) hadn't noticed her arrival, she decided to observe the behaviour of her future students.

_It's just like when I first entered Konoha academy._

There were groups of girls all staring at one boy who was surrounded by another group of boys, there were pairs and people sat on their own either reading or sleeping.

_No one seems focused on ninja studies, but I suppose Naruto and that lot weren't either._

Once deciding that the class probably needed to be whipped into shape, she walked over to the desk and tapped the frantic woman on the shoulder causing her to jolt straight into the air. Rei stepped back and took a defensive position. The class looked at the women and laughed.

"Sorry, second nature" said Rei, lowering her guard. "My name is Rei, I'm the new teacher, well sort of, I taught the-"

"The street students, yeah I know" spoke the ninja whose hair looked like it was on constant alert. For first impressions, Rei was not impressed. There was an awkward silence as the ninjas stood and stared at each other.

"And your name is?" asked Rei, breaking the awkward silence.

"Alane Moshimi, chuunin" spoke Alane turning towards the door.

"You're leaving?" asked Rei.

"Yes, I was only here as a replacement for an older jounin, until you arrived" replied Alane, flattening out her hair. Without another word she left, leaving Rei with 20 noisy students.

_Why do I feel like this is all going to go horribly wrong?_

**With Gaara**

_I hope this doesn't go horribly wrong._

Gaara as usual was sitting in his office, for the past 5 hours he had been interviewing (Aka subtly interrogating) the ninja who had burnt down the building, however all told the same story, a man in a cloak presented them orders signed by the Kazekage to torch the building.

_Idiots! Why would they trust a man in a cloak? For they know it could have been an imposter, however it wouldn't have been hard for the council member to obtain my signature._

Matsuri popped in every so often to check up on him, knowing that the last few days had been stressful. She always came in with a fresh cup of a tea which is something she wouldn't normally do, but Gaara appreciated the gesture.

_*Flashback*_

After the children had left Gaara called the council for another meeting.

"Kazekage-sama, we simply can't afford to keep that place afoot, the council has agreed that the building should be destroyed and used as a training ground; that is the cheaper alternative than trying to recover what's left of it"

"If it hadn't been torched then that would not have been much of a problem, and no one has confessed to assigning jounin to burn it"

The council remained quiet. Gaara was angry, never before had the council openly lied to him.

"If I find out the truth before someone confesses, the consequences will be much worse"

The council began to quake in their chairs, he may be young but Gaara was powerful and a ninja to be feared.

_After all, he did contain the Shukaku._

"Did you ever read the reports that Rei submitted?"

The council remained silent.

"Yes I did and I felt that they were not making as much progress as they should have been" spoke the old man with the melting face, his name was Shoro.

"They have made more progress in these past few weeks than most students do in months" said Gaara, rising from his chair.

"But it's those students that are our priority" spoke the defiant council member who was now also standing.

"What makes others more worthy of the council's attention? Why shouldn't these children have the chance to become more than what they have been limited to" Shoro was silenced. He opened his mouth but the words had escaped him. Gaara stared at each council member, hoping that one would be brave enough to answer him, but all was quiet. A wind blew from the windows filling the soundless room, Gaara stared out of it, and couldn't help but remember the first time he met the strange ninja. He realised then how much of an impact she had had on him, a smile began to grow on his face but was destroyed by the voice of Shoro.

"We simply do not have the funds to keep the children here; their parents had no desire to stay" Gaara looked into the eyes of Shoro and saw only desperation. And with that he headed towards the door.

"This meeting had ended"

_*End of Flashback*_

Gaara had just finished interviewing the last jounin and only had Ashita Goro left who was away settling the children in to their new home. He turned his head towards the window and his mind towards Rei.

After assigning Rei her class, although she appeared happy and compared her new mission to the adventures of a bee entering a new honey comb (Gaara found this very confusing), he could tell that she was sad on the inside, especially when she found out that Mei and Rinkato were not in that class. The council believe that her friendship with them will compromise the training of the other children. Gaara chuckled at her reaction: _Gobbs-swolop! _

_So weird_

**Back in the Academy**

20 minutes into the lesson, and Rei had yet to acquire names out of the children. She had been standing patiently at the front of the class; her arms were crossed over her chest, waiting for the children to acknowledge her. And now her patient was wearing thin.

"Hello my name is Rei and I'm your new sensei, so if you don't shut up I'll make you run 100 laps of Suna!" and with that the class was silent.

"Thank you" said Rei, taking a seat at the desk.

"Why don't we start with your names?" All of a sudden a loud noise filled the classroom, names were bouncing off every wall, if noise had taken a physical form it would have taken the walls off and blown Rei into the next century.

Rei raised her hand that held a piece of chalk to silence the students. She then raised herself from her seat and stepped towards the black board. She then slowly turned towards the students, staring at them blankly.

Turning back to face the chalk board she said: "First impressions are important in life, especially to the lowly slug who normally fears everything it meets, at this stage you may think that I am inadequate or weird, the latter being correct, but I think you are all annoying. First impressions, not so good"

Some of the students glared at Rei, most seemed confused.

"So here's a puzzle that I want you to solve, it's not easy, you have 1 hour, then we will try introductions again" Rei began to write a puzzle that needed the knowledge of strategy and tactics to solve.

Suddenly she stopped. A smell had reached her nose; it was like damp grass, rain and blood.

_Why would anyone in Suna smell of grass?_

Being in Suna for the past weeks had taught Rei that everyone in Suna had the smell of sand on them, as if it was stained to their skin.

_Something doesn't belong_

She carried on writing, but at a significantly slower pace so as not to disturb the children. She continued to take in the unwanted smell: the blood was fresh.

"Solve this puzzle" said Rei, surveying the room.

"Ah but-" moaned a student.

"Just do it" said Rei sharply. Not a second past and there was silence. She walked between the rows of children like she was inspecting their work but her true intention was to track down the source of the smell. She walked over to the window; her hand was holding her kunai in her pocket, ready for an attack. But when she looked out, all she saw was Suna and the people walking past, undisturbed.

_Maybe I'm just imagining it._

However when she looked directly downward, she saw a spatter of blood. She jumped down to examine the stain on the wall. She scanned her eyes over the blood and was picked out the shape of a hand, to faint to be able to recognise a gender or the age of the assailant, there wasn't any fingerprints of it was obvious that the person had done with this with a glove on.

_Why would someone do this on purpose?_

Her students, who were shocked at her sudden exit, were now looking over the window ledge, observing Rei.

"Finish the puzzle then you may leave" spoke Rei, not taking her eyes off the blood. She could hear the fast patter of feet telling her that the children were eager to leave. Rei searched into her pocket and found a tissue; she proceeded to wipe the blood onto the tissue for closer analysis later on. She knew that it was her duty to inform the Kazekage.

_No matter how circumstantial it might be._

Before heading back to her class, Rei noticed that she had left a drop on the wall. She raised her finger and wiped it off, leaving the red liquid sitting on her fingertip. Before allowing it to trickle down her finger she raised her finger to her mouth and licked the blood off, unexpectedly however the taste caused her to wince, it was bittersweet and tasted like…

This brought a memory to the front of her mind.

_*Flashback*_

"Fire jutsus: claw of the dragon!" Shouted a 7 year old Rei, charging at her opponent. Her fist was engulfed in flames that had taken the form of a dragon's claw. Her challenger bent down to the ground as if to dodge but instead picked up a pile of dirt and leaves.

"Earth style: forest shield!" Exclaimed the young man who had placed his arms in the shape of a cross. His shield and her claw collided together; it was like the unstoppable force and the immovable object had finally met, however the ground began to shift under the boy as he was slowly moved backwards. Rei began to cry out as she placed another fist against the shield, strengthen the power of fire.

"Your shield gets stronger every day, soon it will be an absolute defence and even my flames will not breakthrough" said Rei, staring into the eyes of the young man. The young boy felt sweat full down his brow as he felt his shield grow weak under the intensity of the flames. With one last cry, Rei exerted all of her energy outward, causing her body to be captured by the flames. The boy felt the heat through his shield, hitting the side of his face, in a moment of weakness he winced, giving Rei the opportunity she needed. She used the remainder of her chakra to push the boy away, crumbling his shield. He flew backwards, smashing his face against a rock nearly causing his to pass out.

"The winner is Rei, excellent use of your fire element, your next target is to practice engulfing yourself in those flames to become yet another jutsus, you have 1 hour to heal, then I want you back out here practicing. You Eron must strength that shield, which is your key jutsus and will save your life one day, you also have 1 hour. Don't fail either of you!" said a man standing on a hill. He was middle aged, but had the statue of a body builder. His face was not of pride or happiness; he just stared coldly at the pair, as he always did.

"Yes, sensei" spoke Rei between breaths. She then knelt to the floor and bowed her head towards him as he walked away.

_I'm never going to get up now._

After a moment she pushed herself off the ground and ran to her opponent. Eron was a few months younger than Rei and was an excellent earth user.

"I apologise about my fire Eron, you're not badly injured are you?" asked Rei, holding her hand out to Eron. Eron looked up at her face and saw her usual neutral expression. Her words may have seemed sympathetic but her face was a cold as stone in a winter's night. That is how they were all taught to be like, but nagging in the back of his mind, Enron new something was wrong but couldn't work out what. So he remained quiet about it, pushing his troubles to the back of his mind. He knew he'd probably think about them again when it was time for rest.

"I'll just have to do better next time" said Eron pushing himself off the ground.

"You're bleeding" said Rei scanning the blood that dripped from his eye. It looked like a teardrop as she wiped it away, leaving a faint red mark on his cheek.

"Some people have chakra in their blood, their called Kekkei- genkai's, Sensei said that their blood taste differently from everyone else's.

"I was born with a kekkei- genkai, I have the power to control mother earth" spoke Eron. Rei stared at the young boy before licking the blood off of her finger.

"You taste like dirt" said an unemotional Rei.

_*End of Flashback*_

Rei had the look of shock on her face and she examined the area once again.

_Could it be him?_

AN: Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D x


	17. Chapter 17

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: After dismissing her class Rei runs to the Kazekage office to discover that the guards at the entrance walls of Suna were attack and killed by one man.

Chapter 17- Behind the blood

Rei was walking towards the Kazekage tower.

_I must inform him, he should know what happens within the village walls._

She still held the bloody tissue in her hand, but wrapped it neatly so that the blood could not be seen. She was on full alert so that, if it was Eron, she would be prepared for an attack.

_Like an unwanted weed. But why is he here?_

Over the 10 years since the children were separated, Rei had made no effort to contact any of them, she didn't feel she needed to, especially when none of the others had tried to do the same. When she moved to Konoha and realised what she had missed those past 8 years, she wanted to lock away the person she was and embrace the person she had become.

_So why now? Something must be wrong._

As she reached the tower she noticed the increase in jounin inside the building. At that moment, 2 women walked out holding onto each other, both balling their eyes out. Tears soaked into the sand that dripped from blood shot eyes. A small child shortly ran after them and clutched onto the skirt of the older looking women. She picked up the child and held him closely in her arms, she pressed his cheek against hers, a sign of assurance that she was there. Their tears mixed together and washed down their cheeks. Rei observed the open display of grief and began to envy them.

_To be loved, and to have loved like that, maybe one day I'll cry like that. Doubtful. _

She noticed Temari, Kankuro and Shikamaru standing around a few jounin, giving out instructions. Temari and Kankuro had returned the day before from their mission.

"This must be kept a secret, we don't want to startle the villagers" said Temari at that moment the jounin disappeared and Rei was in full view.

"Rei-chan, what are you doing here?" asked Kankuro, "aren't you supposed to be with your-"

"Something came up, is Gaara- I mean- the Kazekage available to see?"

"No, he's wrapped up in-well- some messy business"

"What happened?"

"Some jounin were attacked and killed when they were patrolling the gate, Sakura is in the medical room performing an autopsy" spoke Shikamaru.

"Blimey, how did they die?" asked Rei, knowing that the answer would confirm her suspicions.

"Unsure of the jutsus, but it was an earth style" said Shikamaru. Rei's eyes shot up, not going unnoticed by Shikamaru.

At that moment Sakura entered the building holding a report. Shikamaru gestured towards the report, looking at the result.

"The soil was wet and was forced into their throats, drowning them, they didn't stand a chance, and whoever it was is very advance in earth style" said Shikamaru, closing the file and handing it back to Sakura.

_Throat flooding…_

"This must be given to the Kazekage" said Temari, leading Sakura upstairs, followed by Kankuro.

"Shikamaru, I must speak with you" said Rei walking towards the basement of the tower.

**In Gaara's office**

"Do we know the time of the attack?" asked Gaara, placing down the report he had just read.

"Unsure, the drowning, because of the density of the soil, makes it difficult to pin point an exact time, but it must have been during the night, possibly early morning, during the day would have been impossible, because someone would have noticed" said Sakura, annoyed with herself that she could not discover the time.

"Do we have any evidence that could narrow down suspects?" asked Gaara, turning his head towards his siblings.

"There was nothing at the scene of the crime, no blood or fingerprints of any sort, there weren't even any traces of footprints, but the wind could have caused them to fade" spoke Kankuro.

"But we do know that he/she is a master of earth style ninjutsus, to be able to create soil out of just sand is remarkable" said Temari.

"That is not possible" said Rei entering the room, with Shikamaru in toe.

"He or she would have been carrying it around in a gourd or would have some means of transport, there's no way, even if one was a master of earth and water elements could create soil out of thin air, the right components for making soil are not found in this desert, at least not all of them"

"You seem to know quite a bit about-" said Matsuri who had been in Gaara's office, sorting out his paperwork whilst he was investigating the murders of the jounin.

"It's not intelligence, it's logic or in Laymen's terms, common sense, Matsuri-san" said Rei, smiling at Matsuri. A vein popped in Matsuri's head, revealing her anger. Rei sniggered on the inside.

"What do you 2 know?" questioned Gaara, rising from his seat.

"We know that it was one man, because both jounin were killed by the same jutsus, although it is possible that others may have kept a distance while the attack took place, also, if he was carrying a gourd which would contain a considerable amount of soil (from the medical report revealing that there was a large quantity of soil found in them) the most likely option…"

"…is that he would have a large muscular structure which probably wouldn't go unnoticed" said Rei, finishing Shikamaru's sentence. "Have there been any other reports of attacks?"

"No, why?" asked Gaara, edging his way towards Rei.

"Then I fear that he may still be in the village, I mean, why would he just attack the guards and leave, he must be here for something"

"Or someone" said Shikamaru, glancing in Rei's direction.

"You should ask all of the local inns and hotels if anyone has checked in recently fitting that description, although he may have taken on another identity using a transformation jutsus, we have to predict that he is an experienced ninja"

"You keep saying he, why do you think it's a man?" asked Matsuri, moving between Gaara and Rei.

Everyone looked at her.

"Gut instinct" said Rei.

"Keep investigating, dismissed" Everyone nodded and proceeded out of the door.

"Gaara may I speak to you in private?" asked Shikamaru.

**At dinner**

Everyone was sat around the table. Because of the possibility that the attacker is still in the village, Gaara had to inform the villagers to keep a look out and to stay together in pairs. He placed a curfew that everyone must be in their homes by 9:00pm to allow ninjas to sweep the village in search of the murder. It was silent; the only sounds that could be heard were chewing, swallowing and the occasional belch from Kankuro. Tonight Temari had cooked dinner and all who criticised it were beaten severely with her fan. Both were sad that they had lost 2 comrades but refused to show it, but even that type of melancholy is hard to cover up. Rei had been quiet since the meeting with Gaara, engrossed in deep thought.

_If he's here for me then maybe there's a way I could draw him out, I don't want him hurting anymore villagers._

"I sent the information to the Hokage" spoke Gaara, breaking the silence. All 3 of the Konoha ninja's shot their heads up.

"If the village is in danger then it will not be safe for you to stay here"

Rei froze.

_But if we leave, then I won't get to see…_

Rei looked at Gaara, if her eyes were mood rings, they would have turned blue.

"But she may want us to stay to help out in any way we can" said Sakura, continuing to eat her meal.

_But if we do leave, then he'll just follow me to Konoha, then everyone will be in danger there…_

"Whilst you are here I will insure that you are protected" said Gaara turning towards Rei who had removed herself from the ice that surrounded her to stare at Gaara. He smiled; he could see the sorrow in her eyes. At that moment something tugged at his heart which caused him to blush.

_She is sad, is it because of leaving the village, or leaving me?_

Just as his body was about to move closer to Rei's, she shot up and turned her head quickly towards the window. Her ear twitched as she heard light patters tapping the sand walls.

_Rain?_

She manoeuvred towards the window, soon realising that the light rain was slowly progressing into a heavy shower, each drop hitting the land of Suna harder and harder. She placed her arm beyond the window and allowed the droplets to fall onto her skin and settle on her arm. She closed her eyes, not caring about the bizarre looks that she was receiving from her comrades. In a way, she felt a sudden wave of comfort fall over her. It reminded her of her once home, where it rained a lot. When she moved to Konoha, it took a while for her to adjust to the constant sun, but eventually she got used to it, and learnt to enjoy the rain when it burst through the clouds above.

_*Flashback*_

The rain poured through the heavens as if it was attempting to wash the all the sin from the earth. It was a Sunday afternoon and 4 ninjas in intense training where soaked to the bone and very tired. They had been training since the early hours of the morning, all fighting each other until a winner shinned through. The blood that dripped off their bodies had soaked through into their clothing, excess was washed away to stain the grass beneath.

Rei stood near Eron who was close to collapsing on the floor, because of the rain, it made the mud heavy with water and at the age of 6 he had not yet required enough chakra to control the mud with the added element, so in battle, it drained his chakra supply quickly. Rei was also just as tired, although it showed less. Because she was a fire user, her jutsus became near enough useless in the rain, she had to rely heavily on taijutsus and over types of ninjutsus to take down her opponents, especially against someone whose main element was water. Her name was Emirata, 2 years older than Rei and the most skilful one out of the four. Although Rei felt no emotional connection towards her, something inside caused, (under these circumstances) her to feel useless, an emotion she later on connected to as frustration.

The other young boy was called Wincho and was experienced in electrical type jutsus which would have given him an advantage over the older girl, however he was the youngest of the four and at only 4 years old he wasn't as developed as he needed to be to defeat Emirata.

"Emirata! Why are they still standing? You are the most powerful especially when you are surrounded by your element! I thought I told you to tighten your control over water, you've had a week and you haven't progressed at all!"

Rei looked between her sensei and Emirata and can see the anger building on her face, as if his anger had become contagious. Suddenly their sensei, who had been observing them all down jumped in front of Emirata and without warning punched her. The other 3 stood still, trying to compose themselves in front of their sensei. Anyone else would have been shocked, but they were used to this.

_I knew it; this fight was a test for her._

They watched her lifeless figure sore through the air, past the trees and bushes until she hit the ground. Each second that past seemed like a life time as they watched Emirata pick herself up, the blood poured from her nose and mouth as she slowly rose to her feet. The rain slowly washed the blood off her face and the crack in her nose was revealed.

_Another scar_

"This fight is over! Emirata, you've failed this test!" the anger was glued to Emirata face as absorbed every word, like poison in her veins.

"Eron, I've told you before water and earth make a good element combination! I will give you a one on one session tomorrow, again!" Eron bowed to his sensei.

"Wincho, keep improving on your electrical jutsus, you're on track but you can't stop there!" Wincho bowed to his sensei, looking over at Eron who was still on the ground.

"And Rei, fire can defeat water when you put your mind to it! You have your symbol for focus now use it! You must figure this out yourself!"

"Yes, sensei" said Rei as she knelt to the grass.

"We all have a mission that we must not fail! You have a month. Now, back to the house!" shouted their sensei as he vaporised in front of them.

Eron was the first to collapse to the ground, followed shortly by Wincho and then Rei.

"That was a good fight Emirata" said Rei, gesturing her to join her fallen 'team mates'

"Obviously not good enough!" shouted Emirata. Her fists shook causing the rain to quiver on her skin. Emirata looked into Rei's eyes hoping to find something, but only saw her usual blank eyes.

"How can you do that Rei?" asked Emirata, seating herself opposite the neutral ninja.

"Do what?" asked Rei.

"Stay so calm, so blank, it's like you're a ghost"

Rei just stared at her, not knowing what to say. The others stared at her also, hoping that she would flinch at the obvious insult. But she didn't. Instead she rose to her feet.

"Because that is what we are trained to be, we should head back"

*_End of Flashback*_

AN: helloo, I hope you like it and that it doesnt sound too ridiculous. It will all make sense in the end.


	18. Chapter 18

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: A series of strange encounters that lead to one horrific one.

Chapter 18- Strange Encounter

Rei rose from her bed (the roof top) after only 2 hours of sleep. She had spent the whole night on the lookout, hoping the suspect would reveal himself to her at night. Every 2 hours a new pair of ninjas would ask who she was; what she was doing and then they would leave her alone. Other than that the night was as silent as ever, by 5:00am she had given up hope and let herself fall into sleep. Only to be awaken 2 hours later by the red head.

"Rei-chan" said Gaara, towering the sleeping ninja.

_Chan?_

"You've been up here all night"

Rei yawned.

"Yeah"

"You know, you don't have to keep a lookout, Suna can defend itself" spoke Gaara, holding out a helping hand. Rei looked at the hand, the hand of a hard worker, a strong ninja, and a noble man. Yet when their hands met, it was soft and pale and had a tender touch.

_Just like before_

"So are you going to get up or would you prefer to stay sat on the roof?" asked Gaara. Rei blushed wildly. She had been holding his hand for longer than necessary.

"I'm sorry-I-I-I"

"Forget it" said Gaara, smiling. Rei smiled. "We will find the intruder"

"By the way, what happened with your class?" asked Gaara as they headed off the roof and into his office.

"They're loud, noisy, with no concentration, to train them would be harder than it was to train my old-" Gaara stopped in his tracks.

"If you don't teach them then you will be sent back to Konoha and would have failed your mission, besides if you leave then I wouldn't see- I mean your old class wouldn't see you again"

_I'd have to leave…_

Gaara looked at Rei and saw her eyes drop to the ground.

"Ashita Goro returns today, maybe you could get an update from the children from him for me"

Rei's eyes lit up.

_**Mid-day**_

Ashita Goro strode through the village entrance with 2 jounin either side. He looked across his home but a smile did not reach his face. Instead he saw shame. It stood around every corner, leant against every wall, glaring at passers-by. Unfortunately it was hidden by the mask that stopped everyone from facing the truth. He turned towards the desert, hoping that maybe his former students had followed him.

_Maybe one day you will all return to Suna._

"Goro-sama, we need to file the report to the Kazekage" spoke the jounin on his left. Before Goro could answer, someone interrupted him.

"No need, I can take that from you, besides, I have a few questions to ask Ashita Goro"

He turned, and saw the weird ninja standing in front of him.

_I didn't even sense her there!_

The other jounin looked annoyed.

"We don't take orders from Konoha ninjas!" But before he could continue, Goro raised his hand to silence him.

"But sir-"

"If those are the orders of the Kazekage" spoke Goro, as Rei nodded in response.

"You're dismissed" They bowed and went on their way, but not before sending Rei a dirty stare first.

"I owe you a drink Goro-sensei"

"That you do" smirked the grown man as they made their way towards the sake stand.

On the journey there, a silence engulfed them. Both stole quick glances of one another before the other could notice. It seemed awkward at first, knowing that there last talk was a heated argument. Both were relieved when they reached the bar. Rei ordered them a bottle of sake.

"You're drinking aswell?" asked Goro.

"I am old enough" smiled Rei as the sake was placed in front of Rei. Silence hit them again as Rei poured Goro a drink. They both raised the small saucers to their lips and took a swig.

_Just one will be fine, still have to watch out for Eron._

"So how are they?" asked Rei.

"They're fine. I'm surprised"

"They can handle a new environment-" said Rei who was now standing above senior.

"I was talking about you" For a moment Rei seemed confused, but then gave into her feelings and slumped back on the stool.

"I thought you wanted to talk about the incident" Rei remained silent.

"They miss you, even if they won't admit it. Even San- I mean- Tweedledum does." Rei's eyes shot up.

_He nearly said her name! San?_

"Why do you say that?" said Rei not realising that she was filling up her saucer with more sake.

"Because she was the most stubborn when it came to, well, every job that involved the house, she even 'got lost' on the way their just to delay our arrival"

"Really?" said Rei, smirking because she seemed proud and happy at the actions of the usually serious ninja.

"I need to file a report for the Kazekage" said Rei shaking herself out of her happy trance. She reached into the bagged she had been carrying and pulled out a pen and some paper.

"Hit me!"

"What?"

Rei shook her head and laughed: "An update, please"

**With Gaara**

After his encounter with Rei, Gaara returned to his office to find a fresh cup of tea sitting on his desk.

_Matsuri_

Gaara then spent the day filling in forms and thinking about the murders of his jounin and of what Shikamaru had said to him:

_*Flashback*_

"Gaara, may I speak to you in private?" asked Shikamaru as he closed the door.

"Yes, take a seat" replied Gaara moving to sit in his chair. Shikamaru walked towards the window and scanned the sand.

_All clear_

"We don't have long, and I must be brief" Gaara stared at Shikamaru as he took a seat opposite him.

"She knows…"

_*End of Flashback*_

_What should I do? I can't just do nothing…_

At that moment there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Gaara-kun I have a the latest report from the scouting jounin from last night's round, nothing new I'm afraid"

Gaara reached for the report and returned to his desk. After glancing over the report, Gaara lifted the cup and took a sip of the hot liquid from the cup that seemed to never empty. Gaara didn't often drink tea but over these past few days he had found it very relaxing. He found it soothing how the warm liquid stroked his throat as he swallowed. Matsuri smiled at his seeming happy face.

"Thank you Matsuri" said Gaara, breathing in the scent of the tea.

"Well, it's nice to know I can do something for you"

"What do you mean?" said Gaara, curious at the unwarranted statement.

"It's just that you always seem so distant, so it feels good to know that you do appreciate the things I do for you, even though you don't always show it because I know you only open up to a few people in your life, but if I had gone through what you had I'd probably be the same…Oh God I hope you didn't think I was being insulting because that wasn't how it was meant to sound and I was waffling I'm so sorry!" Spoke Matsuri, hurrying out the door with red glued on her face like makeup.

_Distant… they're only so many things a person can say._

**Outside the door**

Rei was walking towards the Kazekage's office, holding the report in her hand. She was vigilant, always on the lookout, always on her guard. She tried to carry on the day as normal but in the back of her mind sat the feeling of dread because she knew someone was watching her.

_When is he going to make his move? I'll need to lure him out somehow. I can't let anyone else get hurt, especially not Gaara. Wait, no! ah! O… getting rid of these feelings will be harder than I thought, although I have to admit, it'll be nice to see him again…NO REI DAMIT YOU'RE NOT HELPING YOURSELF! Maybe I should ask Matsuri to-_

Her trail of thought disturbed by the harsh impact of a body hitting her, causing her to stumble back and inevitably trip over her own feet. Matsuri had ran straight into her (because she had her hands over her face) clearly not paying attention to her surroundings, although Rei was doing the same.

The both fell to the floor in opposite directions, grabbing there face simultaneously whilst groaning.

"Ow" said Rei, rubbing her red nose.

"Watch where you're going!" shouted Matsuri, trying to shake off the pain in her hands.

"Says the person who had their hands over eyes, closing off access to the outside world so unavoidably you would have ended crashing up into to either a wall or a person, and unfortunately it was me"

"Well you're supposed to be a great ninja; you should have noticed me there!"

"Well I-" Rei froze, her pupils shrunk and her hand began to shake.

_She's right, I should have noticed, I need to stay alert. What if it had been Eron?_

Matsuri stared at the weird ninja.

_Is she shaking?_

"You're right Matsuri! I-I-I'm sorry" spoke a shaken Rei as she stood up and walked towards Gaara's office.

_She's weird._

When she was out of Matsuri's sight, Rei stopped to compose herself, she hadn't felt that way in a long time. She took a deep in breath and released it gently on the out breath. She looked up and noticed she was in front of the door to Gaara's office.

_Focus Rei focus!_

She knocked lightly on the door and walked in. She looked over at the desk and saw Gaara with his back turned to it. He didn't flinch, or turn at the sound of the knock or her footsteps as she moved herself further into his room.

_He must be distracted to._

"Hello Rei-chan"

_Or not_

"I have the report you wanted"

"I'm surprised you didn't give it to Matsuri, you seemed distant before" Rei was puzzled.

_That's strange he's never mentioned it before, what if it affected him? But I had to distant myself, I have to be distant!_

"I used to do that, when I was a child I-"

"I know I read your file" Gaara looked at her wide eyed.

"Why?" he asked, stepping closer to her. Rei looked directly into his inquisitive eyes.

_I was fascinated by what people said about you…_

"Because I-I I was preparing for the mission" spoke Rei as she lowered her eye level. "I must always be fully prepared in order to carry out a successful mission"

_I see._

"So how did you prepare for the children?"

Rei paused for a moment, then raised her hand to her face and started stroking her chin.

"What are you doing?" asked Gaara, clearly freaked out her action.

"I'm stroking my imaginary beard" said Rei, they both giggled.

"The truth is: I thought I would know when I got here, I asked Iruka and Kakashi but they said that you found your own way of teaching so I guess…I did nothing" Rei smiled as she walked towards the window.

"So why did you do it?" asked Gaara following her to the window.

_Because I couldn't see you_

"I felt, at the time, that it was more appro-" Suddenly she leapt out of the window, while she was standing there, she had been scanning the grounds, beyond the walls of the tower, she caught sight of a dark figure hiding behind a corner. Without pause for thought she leapt out of the window, leaving Gaara confused and alone.

_One chance Rei-chan, that is all I can give._

The figure ran, very quickly. Rei followed the dark shadow like a hawk never letting it once leave her sight. No one could see them, no one could sense them. The only thing that they left behind were trails of rising sand which settled quickly anyway. They didn't run for a long time before the figure stopped running. Rei looked around and noticed they were standing inside the burnt down house of her ex students, and the figure leaning against the corner with a gourd next to him.

"Long time, no see" spoke the figure.

"Eron"

He moved his head into the moon light.

"Hello Rei"

AN: Hey, sorry that this chapter took so long. I have been really busy lately and I have to admit, had trouble writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it; the next chapter will be much more interesting. =]


	19. Chapter 19

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei makes a hard decision, but how will Gaara react?

Chapter 19- The Proposition

Rei looked at her once 'comrade'. He still had brown hair that still looked as scruffy as it did 10 years ago and his clothes were slightly ragged and dirty. _Probably the way he likes it. _However his eyes had changed, before, she saw an innocent boy who would gaze upon her with fear and admiration, but now his eyes were cold and drained as if he lived his whole life in those 10 years.

"What are you doing here Eron?" asked Rei, trying to keep her cool. She had positioned herself into a fighting stance ready for an attack.

"Would you relax Rei? I didn't realise you were still as uptight as ever" laughed Eron.

"Why did you come here Eron? And this time don't avoid the question" said Rei, who had begun to drop her guard.

"It's always been like that with you, no dawdling around things, no faffing about, Rei's direct approach"

"Eron!" shouted Rei, anger flaring through her voice. Eron became wide eyed at her sudden angry outburst.

"Fine then, I have a proposition for you"

Silence.

"Join us" Rei's eyes shot up.

"Emirata and Wincho are waiting in the a small village, we will be the most powerful team throughout all of ninja history"

"Well, No, but why?" said Rei, confusion spilling out through her voice. Eron smirked.

"You have a day to decide oh and by the way, Emirata and Wincho, there waiting in the village where your ex-students are staying; it would be a shame if anything were to happen to them. Also, if you tell anyone about this, including the brown haired one and the Kazekage, more will die. That, I promise!"

Without warning the sand and dirt engulfed his figure and he vanished, leaving Rei standing in the burnt down building confused, extremely confused.

_What the hell!_

**The Next Morning**

Gaara stood on the roof of the Kazekage tower watching over his home with worry. His arms were crossed and pushed tightly against his chest, as if trying to push the anger and anxiety inside of him, trying to cage it from the eyes of the world. Rei hadn't come home last night.

_Where is she?_

An hour had passed but still nothing. His anger began to grow; he was seconds from sending out a search party when suddenly he heard the sounds of light footsteps against the soft curves of the sand. He looked down and noticed the weird ninja clutching her head.

"Rei-chan!" shouted Sakura who was running out of the building followed by Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro and even Matsuri, but before they could reach her, Gaara had jumped in front of them, not noticing that they were right behind him.

"Rei-chan where have you been? I demand an answer right now!" spoke Gaara gripping her arms firmly. Rei looked up and could see worry lingering in his eyes.

_He's probably still watching me. I can't say anything… DAM IT!_

"May we go inside; I think I need to sit…" Rei fainted.

"REI-CHAN!" shouted Shikamaru. Luckily for Rei Gaara was still grasping her arms so she didn't hit the floor. He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the tower. He glanced down at her lifeless figure and was suddenly filled with rage; her spark that usually glowed from her smile had faded.

_Who has done this to her?_

Once inside Gaara ordered them all to secure the building making sure no one got in or out. Sakura prepared her medical kit.

_Will she tell me the truth?_

Gaara watched over as Sakura performed a basic check-up. When she opened Rei's eye lids she noticed blood shot invading her sight and a black rim that surrounded her eyes.

"Lack of sleep, it's nothing to worry about, she just needs rest" Everyone released a sigh of relief.

"Matsuri, watch over her and inform me when she arises, I'll assign someone else to her class today, everyone else return to your duties" said Gaara heading back to his office.

Standing outside, in the corner of a street, Eron watched over.

_So, what will you decide Rei? _

With each passing hour the worry that Gaara had felt earlier on grew, he couldn't stop thinking about her, hoping, praying that she would be alright. Every so often Sakura would come and check on her, and then tell the Kazekage that she would be alright, hoping to alleviate his worry. She could see straight through his cold expression.

_I didn't realise he cared so much. Please wake up soon Rei._

More time past and Rei still didn't stir. Gaara's checks increased to the point where he would come down every 10 minutes, but constant reminders from Matsuri to not neglect his work forced him back to his endless piles of paperwork.

It was 8:00pm, and everyone had returned home and was sitting around the table eating dinner, however there was one empty chair. There was a hole in the room that seemed to absorb all the happiness from it. Suddenly, Matsuri walked through the door.

"I finished my work Kazekage-sama, may I leave?" asked Matsuri.

"It's taken you longer than usual today Matsuri" spoke Gaara who clearly seemed unhappy, but not at her.

"I apologise Kazekage-sama" spoke Matsuri, bowing towards Gaara.

"You may leave, see you tomorrow" said Gaara, turning away from her. Matsuri scampered out the door.

_Hm, that was odd._

Matsuri shut the door and let out a huge sigh then started walking away from the tower.

_Phew that was close. _

She began to run, heading towards the entrance of Suna using the dark alleyways to avoid being seen. She reached the last corner before the entrance came into full view. Her hands dipped into her pocket and pulled out a kunai.

_2 guards shouldn't be too difficult._

She took a glance round, to acquire the positioning of the jounin. However when she did, she noticed that they weren't there.

_A trap?_

She stood for a few moments, analysing the situation.

_Have they been killed?_

Deciding not delay the evitable, she ran along the wall of Suna before exposing herself to the desert. It was empty and silent. The sort of silence a person dreads.

"Who are you?" shouted Eron, clearly hiding in the shadows.

"Moron" said Matsuri under her breath. Suddenly she was engulfed by smoke.

_A transformation jutsus?_

Under the smoke, stood a new figure: Rei.

"So, you've decided, you made a wise choice" said Eron. Rei remained silent; she was angry but wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing otherwise.

"We've got a day's walk before meeting Emirata and Wincho" spoke Eron as he began to walk away from Suna.

"And how do you know I won't run…or try to kill you?" asked Rei who stood firm.

"Because you're not stupid" answered Eron, suddenly a rat appeared out of his sleeve.

"His twin sister is with Wincho, you kill me, and they will have no choice but to kill everyone in that outer village, including your students"

Rei's expression didn't drop, but her heart did. She looked back at Suna, to the life she had gotten used to, to the friends she had made and to the man that she…

"I'll go, on one condition!" said Rei. Eron turned his head back to Rei.

"You leave Suna and Konoha alone!"

"Agreed" said Eron who had started running.

_I'm sorry Gaara, truly I am._

**The Next Day**

It was 9:00am and everyone was sat round the table eating breakfast all except Gaara and Rei. Sakura hadn't checked up on Rei since the night before and was surprised that she hadn't woken up yet.

"Shouldn't she be rested by now?" asked Kankuro whilst scoffing down a bowl of cereal.

"Gross" said Sakura pulling a face of disgust at his pig like behaviour. "Maybe I should go and check on her, it'll also get me away from the puppet pig master" Temari and Shikamaru laughed at Kankuro and at how oblivious he was to insult, clearly too interested in his cereal.

As Sakura walked upstairs, Gaara walked down.

"Good morning Kazekage-sama" said Sakura. Gaara didn't reply, he merely grunted as he continued to make his way downstairs.

_Typical, a man in love. Maybe this will cheer his spirits._

"I'm about to check up on Rei, if you'd like to join me. She should be awake by now" said Sakura. Gaara's eyes perked up a bit. He paused before following Sakura back up the stairs. She flashed Gaara a mischievous smile combined with a cheeky giggle leaving Gaara confused.

Sakura pushed Rei's bedroom door open and noticed that Rei hadn't changed position in the night.

_That's strange._

Sakura seemed worried so she checked her eyes and noticed that the blood shot and black rims had disappeared.

"Well, she should be awake, all signs of sleep deprivation have gone" Sakura and Gaara shared the same confusion. Gaara bent his face down to hers and couldn't help but notice her graceful cheeks that resembled the curves of the sand. But before he could continue his 'observations' his nose picked up a familiar sent that he didn't expect.

"Aloe?"

"Oh, isn't that something that Rei puts in her herbal cream"

"That's weird, the last time she put it on was on her hands, not her face"

_Something's not right here._

"I'm going to wake her up" said Sakura. Gaara stepped back when he saw Sakura grab Rei's arms.

"WAKE UP WEIRDO!" shouted Sakura. Gaara seemed slightly afraid.

_I would not want to be woken up by Sakura._

Suddenly Rei's eyes flashed open followed by a cloud of smoke that filled the area around Rei's bed, causing both Sakura and Gaara to tumble back. As the smoke cleared, they were shocked to see who was really sitting on the bed.

"Matsuri!" shouted Sakura and Gaara in unison.

"Owww!" cried Matsuri grasping her neck.

"So where's Rei?" asked Sakura. All 3 looked at each other.

_Rei, you fool!_

Temari, Shikamaru and Kankuro had come running upstairs to see what all the noise was about and were just as shocked to see Matsuri on Rei's bed.

"What happened?" asked Kankuro wiping his breakfast off his cheek.

"Isn't it obvious" said Shikamaru who had wandered over to the window. "She switched places with Matsuri during the day so she could run somewhere, or meet someone"

Gaara's usual blank stare returned, but beneath his eyes a fire burned deep.

_Rei, why did you do this?_

He then turned to face Matsuri. "Can you remember what happened?"

_*Flashback* _

It was 2:00pm and Gaara had just been down for a visit. Matsuri was sat at a table she set up in Rei's room. Her arm which she had been leaning on for many hours was dead and now her face was planted in the table. She was very bored.

_I can't believe I have to watch over her. A part of me wishes she wouldn't wake up, but Gaara's so worried, I mean I like his constant visits but all to see her… Does he even realise how much it hurts?_

A tear nearly shed from her eye, but the stirrings of the weird ninja transformed the tear into a sigh of relief.

_Finally_

She walked towards Rei to make sure that she had woken up completely. When she saw Rei's eyes slowly open, she headed straight for the door.

"Finally you're awake, now I can get on with better-" but before she could finish her sentence Rei hit her pressure point at her neck causing Matsuri to collapse to the floor.

_I'm sorry Matsuri, but it's my only way out._

She looked around and noticed that the place had been secured.

_Good, it'll make doing this easier._

She picked up Matsuri's body and placed her into the bed, unfortunately for Rei she was still fatigued so it took longer than she expected. She examined Matsuri's body to see if she had any items on her that would strengthen her disguise but only found some kunai and a pen. Rei was about to begin the jutsus when noticed the bruise on Matsuri's neck.

_Ops, I must have hit her a bit too hard._

Rei reached into her pocket to find her herbal cream which she gently rubbed onto Matsuri's neck.

_I can't leave her with a bruise on her neck, she hates me enough already._

Once finished with her treatment, she placed the tub on the table and took in a deep breath.

_I hope I have enough chakra for this._

All of her concentration rushed to her fingertips as her hands moved to create signs. She then placed her hands firmly on Matsuri's face.

_DUEL TRANSFORMATION!_

Suddenly, a cloud surrounded them both changing who they were, swapping their identities until both had become the other. Rei examined her new look making sure she was exactly like Matsuri.

_Now that I look like Matsuri, best start acting like her aswell. _

Throughout the day Rei had spent: perfecting her Matsuri act, developing her plan, and thinking about a certain red head.

_Would it hurt him knowing that I was doing this? I just hope I've told Shikamaru enough to help all of them through this._

_*End of Flashback*_

"I thought she was acting suspiciously last night" said Kankuro placing himself at the end of the bed.

"Do you remember anything else Matsuri?" asked Shikamaru.

"No, I'm sorry" said Matsuri who seemed ashamed of herself.

"It's not your fault" said Gaara. This made Matsuri smile.

_At least he doesn't blame me…_

"Rei is strong, she could have done it to any of us" explained Shikamaru turning back to the group.

"But why?" asked Sakura. Shikamaru looked over to Gaara.

"It's your call Gaara"

Gaara freed a breath that had been trapped in his throat. "Temari, Kankuro organise a search party-"

However before he could continue, Shikamaru gestured towards Matsuri.

"What's that in your pocket?" Everyone watched Shikamaru as he pulled out a piece of paper.

"It's a note from Rei" Everyone went silent and placed all their focuses on Shikamaru.

"_**Suna is safe, but wherever I go, they will follow. Do not follow me; I know what I'm doing. I'm sorry"**_

Everyone was silent as they absorbed each word, trying to understand why. Gaara was the first to break the silence.

"Temari organise a search party"

"No!" said Shikamaru. "We should trust her"

"I can't allow her to go at this by herself!" said Gaara.

"She knows what she is doing; she doesn't need or want jounin coming after her"

"These people must be brought to justice; they killed 2 of my men besides what if she gets hurt? They'll be no one there to protect her!"

"Gaara, I know you care about her! We all want her to come back safe, but she knows who she is up against, she-"

"What do you expect me to do? Just stand by and do nothing!" shouted Gaara who was now only a few inches away from Shikamaru. Everyone was surprised at how open he was, without him even realising it.

_He's grown so much._

_Little brother, I'm strangely proud of you._

_My plan worked!_

_She better come home, if it's the only way for him to be happy._

"I never said we should do nothing, but before we decide, you should know the truth. You all need to understand how dangerous and delicate this situation truly is" said Shikamaru staring out at the clouds.

"Tell us everything" said Gaara.

AN: Hey, I hope you enjoy the chapter =D


	20. Chapter 20

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is for purely entertainment purposes only.

Summary: Shikamaru tells all…that he knows anyway.

Chapter 20- An 8 Year Old Girl

Shikamaru stood facing the sky, as if trying to transport himself back to 18years ago: "Well Rei didn't know her parents"

"_This programme will be kept secret from our villages; we don't want to send out the wrong message. The strongest of ninja will be chosen so as to bear the strongest children; it will be the start of the newest evolution of ninja"_

"Rei was one of the 4 children selected for the mission; she was taken at birth and raised in a training facility. There were only 4 of them because the ninja who was training them could keep a tighter control on them; they were test subjects, guinea pigs for the greater plan"

"_We must choose a suitable jounin to train the children, one of discipline, of strength and more important, loyalty to the mission. To train the strongest we must choose the strongest"_

"A jounin was selected to train them, a man called Horojima, said to be the most feared warrior of his time, master of genjutsus, taijutsus and ninjutsus. He was the perfect candidate"

"_So as not to emotionally connect the mother and the child, the chosen will be taken after birth and raised by another ninja until the age of 3, from then they will be transported to Horojima"_

"She trained there till she was 8 years old, all they did was train. They never interacted with other children because the training grounds were isolated from all the villages. She was a born and bred shinobi, unlike nothing the 5 nations had seen before"

(Horojima): _"The children are making excellent progress, already passing the level of chuunin. With more training they will be greater than most jounin! They are equally skilled in genjutsus, ninjutsus and taijutsus, the perfect formula for the strongest of ninja"_

"She was disciplined; brain washed to believe the only thing that was important in life was 'the mission', as tests they were sent out on assassination missions, but not as a team, on their own"

"_Well done Rei, the first kill is always the hardest, but from here killing will be much easier, especially when it's to aid the success in a mission"_

"_Yes sensei" said an exhausted Rei. She was 5 years old and had been sent to kill a rogue ninja. She didn't know his name, and she didn't care. She had an order to remove him from existence which she carried out perfectly. She looked down at his blood splattered body: his eyes were open as wide as they could be, as if they were staring down death at his last moment and his heart, remnants of which were black and sprayed across the green field. She had used a fire jutsus: Fist Bomb, which had a devastating effect to his organs, causing them to combust and end up staining her fist. Blood, like velvet red dripped off her knuckles onto the blades of grass._

_Hmmm…_

"She tells me that she was as cold as ice and as blank as a canvas. All the training did was great a powerful being who couldn't laugh or love, hate or cry, the worst kind of person."

(Gaara): _The loneliest kind of person…_

"She never had a childhood like you or me, even when she came to Konoha; people were put off by her, as if she was surrounded by a dark aura. She never spoke to anyone, yet people couldn't help but fear her"

(Gaara): _Like my childhood…_

"Anyway, she lived her life like this for 5 years, acquiring new jutsus, fighting techniques, fire type genjutsus, until she reached the age of 8. Then Horojima died"

"How did he die?" asked Sakura who was engrossed in his story.

"I don't know" Everyone dropped to the floor.

"What do you mean you don't know!" shouted Kankuro pulling himself off the floor.

"I mean I don't know! Rei's never told me the details; he died of an illness or something"

"So what about the other children?" asked Temari, moving herself closer to the lazy jounin.

"The first to start the training was a girl named Emirata, Rei said that she used many water type ninjutsus, but was also the best at genjutsus, being able to manipulate the mind of her opponents, sending images into their heads to make them go mad"

"_ARRRGHHHHHHHH!" screamed Eron, who had fallen to the ground clutching his head. "EMIRATA STOP!" he bellowed. His face was emitting excruciating pain, tears poured out of his eye sockets to the point where his eyes looked like they were the next to fall out. Emirata looked up at her sensei; however his eyes had not changed. She could see his desire to see more, more of her power, more of Eron's pain. She grew angry but knew she could not stop. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Rei appeared._

_Fire Jutsus: Hell Dragon!_

Flames suddenly engulfed Emirata's body which had successfully released the genjutsus on Eron. As they began to dissipate, Rei could see the body of her partner quivering on the ground. She looked over at Eron who had passed out from the intense torment of the genjutsus.

_What was that genjutsus?_

_Rei wandered over to Emirata who had managed to open her eyes. _

"_Thank you Rei" whispered Emirata as she also passed out._

"_The winner is Rei!" shouted their Sensei. He then transported himself next to Rei._

"_Well done Rei, but that jutsus could be more intense, train to increase the temperature of the flames, and then it will truly be a hell dragon. Get these 2 inside and then fetch Wincho; he is on the cliffs again"_

"_Yes sensei" said Rei. She glanced down at Emirata._

_Why did she say thank you? Did she not want to see Eron in such pain? After all it is only training. Hm…_

"The youngest was a boy called Wincho, he must have only been there for 3 years but that didn't stop him from being able to use electrical type jutsus, Rei told me that he had found a way, a few months before it all ended, to combine his taijutsus and his lightning abilities, she said that when he punched her, it was like being shocked with a thousand jolts"

_Wincho glared at his 'enemy' Rei as she stood at the edge of the cliff face. With nowhere to run she looked into the eyes of Wincho and saw a spark of determination. _

_He seems different somehow._

_But before she could think further, lightning struck in front of her causing her to stumble backwards and then suddenly, from out of the white light of the thunder, Wincho appeared. He punched Rei straight in her cheek which sent her flying off the cliff. Luckily for Rei, the drop wasn't very big. They were training by the coast a good 2 miles away from their usual training grounds, so she only landed in the sea. _

_After a few moments, Wincho heard the sound of the Rei's body as it splashed against the seas surface, which brought him out of his fighting mode. He ran to the cliff's edge and looked out into the deep blue sea. He saw nothing._

"_Rei!" he shouted. But all he could hear was the crashing of the waves against the rocks below. He began to climb down the cliff's face, scrambling down like a spider until he stood night next to the sea._

"_REI!" he shouted again hoping to get a response. As he looked out, he noticed air bubbles begin to reveal themselves on the sea's surface. Wincho smiled; relieved that Rei was alright, however, his smile began to fade when the amount of bubbles increase and steam begin to rise until it looked like the sea itself was boiling._

_Oh uh!_

_The sea burst open, like an erupting volcano and out of it rose a fire dragon with eyes as red as blood and felt as hot as the sun. Wincho could feel the sweat drip off him in buckets as he backed himself against the cliff. He caught glimpse of a small hand stretch out of the sea, also engulfed in flames controlling the terrifying beast. He saw her hand flicker in his direction which caused his eye to shoot wide open. Out of instinct he jumped into the sea to avoid being severely burnt. As he looked back at the cliff, the dragon loosing form as it destroyed the cliff face was reflected in his eyes. All that was left in him was fear._

"_Did you think this battle was over?" said Rei as she swam towards Wincho._

"_How did you-"_

"_That was a fierce punch Wincho; you've really improved since our last fight. I should also thank you, because if you hadn't punched me as hard as you did, I would have hit the rocks and probably died. You did it on purpose so thank you, which also means you won" said Rei as she floated next to her comrade._

_Wincho seemed shocked by her words._

"_Besides, you could still win now anyway, so I shall save myself the pain"_

"_But how could I?"_

"_We're surrounded by water, a giant conductor. The only logical thing I could do is surrender. We should get back" Rei began to swim to shore leaving Wincho floating by himself._

_But, I didn't do it on purpose and how could I not realise about the water!_

"_Come on Wincho!" _

"The last member is the member who invaded the village and killed the jounin. His name is Eron, a powerful earth user. Rei said that he had a kekkei genkai that allowed him to control the earth, but not just the soil but the trees also. Basically anything that comes from the earth"

_It was 1:00am; Rei and Eron were doing much midnight training in order to gain 'night sight'. _

"_So, how do we do this?" asked Eron as he wandered aimlessly in the dark._

"_In order to 'see' in the dark one must take advantage of there more keen sense, for example, if you were to strengthen your connection with the earth, you may be able to feel the vibrations of an attacking ninja, just like a fox uses the wind to smell out his prey"_

"_So, what are you going to do? I mean, your main element is fire, how would that be useful? I mean you can't exactly set fire to everything just so you can see"_

_Eyes…fire…eyes of fire…_

_Rei slowly lifted her hands to her eye level, and then allowed the flames to surround them. She watched, through the darkness, as the flames danced around her fingertips. She then started to her hands around her body, creating bright lines in the blackness of the night._

_If only I could see what the fire sees, if only my eyes could shine as brightly as the flames…_

"_I would rather practice my other jutsus" said Eron, disturbing her trail of thought. She tried to get back into the flames by ignoring her talkative comrade, but could not as he kept on ranting on._

"_Throat flooding: It will be the most deadly jutsus ever seen, one that even sensei will fear"_

"_Sensei does not fear us" said Rei, as bluntly as she could._

"_Maybe one day he will"_

"So these 3 have come for Rei?" said Temari trying to break the gloomy mood that had emerged.

"I can only assume so yes" answered Shikamaru.

"And it's safe to say that they are quite powerful shinobi, so just running after her and facing them would be fairly difficult" spoke Kankuro. They all looked at him with a 'well-done-stupid' face which he sneered at, all except Gaara. He had spent time looking out at Suna, at the vast desert, every so often her shape would appear in the wind. He smiled, but it was one of sadness, for he knew that his eyes deceived him with illusions of her life.

"So, what do we do Shikamaru?" asked Sakura.

"I don't know"

Everyone sighed in defeat.

AN: I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who has read and favourite(d) my story. I never expected it to get so much positive feed from people :D I hope you're all enjoying the story! x


	21. Chapter 21

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Whilst Eron and Rei head towards the meeting point, Shikamaru tries to figure out a plan to save Rei.

Chapter 21: The Meeting Point

Rei and Eron had been running for hours, they had reached the border of the desert and the forest and were now miles away from Suna. She couldn't help but occasionally look back at the desert, which reminded her of the Kazekage.

_Gaara…I wonder if they've figured out that I've gone._

And one of the worst things was, Rei was beginning to get hungry.

_I haven't eaten in over a day; this is bad I need my energy levels to be up!_

She stopped. Eron also stopped when he realised that he could only hear his footsteps.

"Why have you stopped?" asked Eron.

"I'm hungry" said Rei in a monotone voice.

"Tough" answered Eron.

She remained silent, staring at him.

"We don't have time to eat!" shouted Eron.

She still didn't move. This made Eron angry. He stormed over to her and grabbed her arm.

"We are not stopping" he shouted into her ear, so as she got the message. Her head slowly turned, similar to the turning head of a puppet in a horror film. Eron jolted his head backward, her eyes glared at him. Never before had he seen someone so desperate for food, he even started to fear her glaring eyes. However, Rei's rumbling stomach killed the tension created by the stare and the fear he felt melted away quickly. She dropped her head in defeat, but then a sound lifted her head again: clanking metal. She looked towards Eron and saw him taking out a chain out of his pocket.

_So he's finally decided to chain me up._

He seized her wrist and locked it away beneath the iron chain. The cold metal made her skin shiver. Being in Suna she had gotten used to the hot weather so her skin always felt warm. He then locked the other cuff onto his wrist and started to move on.

_**In Suna**_

Gaara was sat at his desk doing his usual daily paperwork. He wanted to be with the team he assigned to Rei's rescue operation but had a duty to Suna to remain as their leader, he also didn't want his emotions to compromise the mission. Yes, Gaara had realised that his personal feelings for Rei had become more than just comrades. After playing over the morning's incident in his head he couldn't figure out why he spoke the way he did.

"_I can't allow her to go at this by herself!"_

"…_besides what if she gets hurt? They'll be no one there to protect her!"_

"_What do you expect me to do? Just standby and do nothing!"_

_Why did I say those things?_

There was a knock on the door which brought him out of his train of thought.

"Come in" he called. It was Matsuri, holding another cup of tea.

"I brought you some more tea" said Matsuri, placing it on his desk.

"Thank you Matsuri"

Matsuri was about to leave when she remembered something.

"Oh, I also have a message from the council. They want to know why you are putting so much effort into finding Rei. She is not of Suna, so they think you should leave it to Konoha to find-"

"She was under our protection at the time making it our responsibility and if the council don't like it then they should come and see me themselves. Tell them that Konoha have been informed and that I am waiting for a response"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama"

Matsuri left, leaving Gaara in solemn mood.

**With Shikamaru**

Shikamaru sat in his thinking position trying to think of strategy to defeat Rei's old comrades, but all plans came to one conclusion.

_Leave her alone._

"So, you got anything yet Shikamaru?" asked Sakura who had been waiting for a logical plan to fall out of his mouth. Unfortunately she received no such luck.

"Ok then, let us start from the beginning. This guy, Eron came into the village and killed the jounin to get Rei's attention. He wants to talk to her but not kill her, but why? What does he offer her to make her leave the village?" said Sakura, now pacing the room.

"In her note she said that Suna was safe, so he must have threatened the safety of the villagers" answered Shikamaru.

"But then why not inform Gaara? Even 1 shinobi couldn't take down a whole army"

There was a moment of silence.

_Sakura was right, even if this was a personal issue, Rei would have gone straight to Gaara if only the village was in danger from a direct attack._

"They may be something in her past that could help us" said Shikamaru. "We know that all of them came from different villages and that when the project ended they all returned to their homes, we need to find out what villages the other 3 came from and ask for a report on each of them. A motive for what they're doing may be discovered in their past, but how did they know that Rei was in Suna?"

"They must have been watching her, and if they had been watching her in Suna…"

"…Then they would have known about her students!"

"Is it possible that Eron could be the real cause of the fire where the children lived, because if he did, then that would give him hostages that are no longer protected by Suna"

"Someone needs to go and collect those students now!" exclaimed Shikamaru. At that moment, Kankuro and Temari walked through the door.

"Temari someone needs to go to town where Rei's old students are being kept now!"

"Wait what?" cried a shocked Temari.

"I'll explain on the way there, Sakura can you inform Gaara and ask him to send word to the other leaders, asking them for information on the other 3" said Shikamaru making his way for the door.

"We are going to need Goro-sama, he knows where the children are staying and he has a better relationship with them than we do" said Temari.

Before Sakura could answer, they had rushed out of the door, leaving her with Kankuro.

_**A few hours later…**_

Shikamaru, Temari and Goro had reached the town where the children where situated. It was a small town, a communal area where everyone new everyone and no one had a desire to leave, except for Rei's old students. They found them in a sand field, far away from the entrapment of the 'perfect' town. Darui was sat on a bench reading the medical volume Rei had brought for him and Fari, Tera and Keno were practicing their kunai training against a tree. They started walking towards them when Goro suddenly stopped.

"Where's Sanchi?"

"Who?" asked Shikamaru and Temari in unison. The children noticed that they were there and ran over to them, in what seemed to be in a panic.

"Where's Sanchi?" shouted Fari, glaring angrily at his old sensei.

"Sanchi was the other girl in Rei's class, you've probably heard Rei refer to her as Tweedledum" explained Goro. "When was the last time you saw her?" asked Goro, bending down to their level.

"The day before last, it was in the evening I think. At first we thought that she was at home but when we went there her father said that she hadn't been home at night" clarified Tera who was now starting to get anxious.

"So her father did tell you?" spoke a shocked Keno.

"No, no he did not. Unfortunately, Rei has been taken from Suna and we believed that you might be in danger, but it looks like we were too late" The children were sad; tears started pouring out of Darui's eyes. They looked at their sensei in disbelief, eyes wide with fear and sorrow, hoping that all of it was just a lie.

"No we still have time" said Shikamaru, lifting the spirits of the children. "We're going to take you to Suna where you will be safe"

"We get to go back home?" asked a shy Darui. A smile grew from each of the children; it was contagious because Temari couldn't stop smiling.

_No wonder she liked them so much. _

"Yes" she said, placing her hand on Darui's head.

"What about our parents?" asked Fari.

"No, they'll stay, there's no need to drag them into this, but I will be speaking to Rei's father" said Goro who seemed just a little bit angry. "Temari and Shikamaru will escort you, they'll leave as soon as you're ready" With that all the children ran back to their accommodation leaving the 3 of them in the field to plan the next step.

"Sanchi will still be alive, they can't risk killing her because Rei would just turn on them and knowing that Rei and Sanchi have quite a strong bond between them, the results would be devastating" explained Shikamaru.

"So, what do we do next?" asked Temari.

"Look for some sign that it was them, but we don't have long, so we'll need to dispatch your forensic analysis team to do a thorough search" said Shikamaru has he began to search the grounds.

"I'll get one of the jounin here to send a message back" said Temari who then disappeared in the wind.

"I'm going to visit Sanchi's father, if he had told us sooner then we could have made more progress" spoke a clearly angry Goro. He then ran in the same direction as the children.

**With Rei**

"Where are we going? Because it's obvious we're not going to my student's new homes" said Rei who was still being dragged along by Eron. "And by the way I'm still hungry and I will eat you if we don't stop soon" Eron looked back and saw a very serious face.

_Just like she used to be, just weirder…_

"We are almost there" he said, trying to avoid eye contact.

Nightfall was beginning to creep on up on them, it was 8:00pm and they hadn't stopped all day. Rei couldn't see but knew that her wrist would have turned red from the constant tugging from Eron. It was as if it was a way to remind her that he was in charge.

_He's still that same boy I met all those years ago..._

"So, what happened to you then?" asked Rei. They hadn't spoken to each other most of the day, because whenever Rei tried he would either ignore her or shout her to be quiet, however now it was nearing the end of the day and she could tell that he was growing tired, as was she. Eron stayed silent.

"I mean, there's got to be a reason why you're doing this" but still he said nothing. She stayed silent; she was weak from hunger and would not waster her energy in a conversation that was going nowhere very fast. Instead they just kept on running. Rei was running on the pretence of needing to remain strong, one moment of weakness would allow him to overpower her which is something she didn't want, although reminding him of her hunger probably didn't help much.

It was now 10:00pm and the night had finally engulfed them. Eron suddenly stopped and began to survey his surroundings.

"We are here, so sit down!" he demanded, dragging her near a tree. They were now deep in a forest and well out of Suna. Rei took the opportunity to sit down and rest, deciding not to argue with her captor. He sat down opposite catching his breath and taking her in. His eyes roamed her body until he reached her face where he met her eyes, her blank eyes that just stared into him.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, trying to remain as monotone as she could.

"You're different" he said, turning his face away from hers.

"I know" she replied whilst leaning her head back against the tree. "For the better" She looked up into the black sky and at the stars and realised something that made her sad.

_There not the same stars._

The stars that she looked at didn't seem to shine as bright, they didn't bring light in the darkest hours, instead they seemed to have faded, as if they were slowly dying.

_Suna…_

**At Sanchi's home: 5:00pm**

Goro reached the small apartment of the missing ninja's home, but it really wasn't a home. It had only been a few days since the move and already the place seemed dark as if slowly falling back into a derelict state. Goro knocked on the door very loudly, but could not hear the sounds of footsteps that usually follow afterwards. Today, Ashita Goro had no time for patience so he decided to punch a hole through the door allowing him access to the door handle.

"What the hell!" shouted the man whose skin had jumped off his body and was already halfway down the street. Before the man could move however Goro grabbed his collar and pushed him into an armchair that was stained with liquor and body fluids. Goro was about to speak when his nostril flared.

"You should clean this place up" he said. The smell was vile, stench of alcohol not only roamed his mouth but it invaded very corner of his home. The living room was dark and dingy because of the closed curtains. Goro walked over to them and ripped them apart, causing the man to flinch at the sudden light like an insect who dwelled in darkness. Even in the light of the late afternoon, the man couldn't help but cower under its heavenly glow.

"That's better" spoke Goro as he turned back to his mission.

"Why are you here Ashita?" shouted the man.

"Why didn't you inform the village that Sanchi had gone missing?" asked Goro, as calmly as he could.

The man remained quiet. He looked down at the ground like he was feeling guilty about something.

"Sogun! Where is Sanchi?" bellowed Goro now inches away from Sogun's face, forcing him to meet the angry eyes of Goro.

"Sh-she's probably run off somewhere! You were the one who put her here!" shouted Sogun, trying to retaliate.

"Sanchi has been kidnapped!"

Silence. Goro stepped away from the alcohol covered man.

"And if you had told us sooner then we may have more of an idea where she is!"

With that, he left, leaving Sogun staring into a half filled bottle of sake.

AN: Sorry this one took a while, I've had a really busy week. Hope you like it :D x


	22. Chapter 22

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei and Sanchi are united but under difficult circumstances. Worried for her well-being, Rei tries to think of an escape plan. Meanwhile, the others delve into the past of the 3 kidnappers.

Chapter 22- Family

Rei was on the verge of falling asleep; her eye lids grew heavy, slowly allowing herself to fall into the darkness of dream. The trunk of the tree was becoming more and more comfortable.

_I never knew bark could be so pillow like...NO! I must stay awake!_

It was 11:00pm, and her energy levels were at an all-time low. The pain from running all day had finally caught up to her legs. Her thighs were suffering from the worst case of muscle cramp.

_They feel like they're about to fall off!_

The only thing keeping her awake was will power. Eron was still wide awake, chewing on the occasional food pill to keep himself energised. She felt like she was being mocked and she didn't like it.

_Maybe I should have a nap, I mean, if he had wanted to kill me he would have done it already…_

And with that she fell into a deep sleep.

**With Gaara**

It was a new day and Gaara's eyes were blacker than ever. He had stayed awake the whole night, sitting on the rooftop, hoping that she would come up behind him to offer him some company. Whenever he caught glimpse of a shooting star, which wasn't often, only 1 wish ever came to mind.

_I hope I find you Rei, I wish only for your safe return._

It wasn't until 7:00am, when 2 jounin were sent by the council to collect him, did he stop thinking about her. As he sat at his desk, filling in more paperwork and receiving more messages from the council telling him to stop the rescue mission, he pondered on his wish, and why he wished in the first place.

_I don't understand, this feeling, my heart is being crushed and yet I do not mind. What have you done to me Rei?_

Suddenly, Temari and Kankuro walked into his office. Temari and Shikamaru had returned with the children then evening before and continued working on the hunt for Rei, however by 10:00pm, all, except Shikamaru had wandered off to bed. They couldn't continue without the results from the analytical team, but still Shikamaru pushed on. It wasn't until 1:00am when he finally called it a day.

"Are we making any progress?" asked Gaara, shooting up from his seat.

"The analysis team were able to find some evidence that there were foreign ninjas there, however nothing that would determine where they were going. We have pasted the information onto Shikamaru to see if he can come up with anything" spoke a saddened Temari, knowing that what she had said would sadden her younger brother more. Gaara sat back into his seat in defeat.

_Where are you Rei!_

"We may have to send out a search party?" said Kankuro.

"But we don't know where to start looking, they could be anywhere" said Temari trying to make her brother see sense.

"Gaara, what should we do?"

But he didn't answer. He couldn't answer. Because the truth was, he didn't know.

"We should be receiving word from Konoha today, maybe it would be better to leave this to them" said Temari.

Gaara's eyes rose until they met his sister's. His face was blank, but his eyes seemed like they were shivering with worry.

At that moment, there was a soft knock on the door and in walked Matsuri.

"We've just received the report from Konoha and from the outline villages on the enemy ninja"

Once again Gaara rose from his seat; his shivering eyes disappeared and were filled with the slightest hope.

"But the council have asked me not to give it to you, they want me to pass on the information to Konoha and send Sakura and Shikamaru back, saying that they have completed their mission"

The hope in his eyes then turned to anger.

_Cowards!_

"Thank you for coming to me first Matsuri"

"No problem Kazekage" said Matsuri, handing the reports to Gaara. "I can see how much she means to you" She then walked out the room. Leaving Gaara confused Temari pitiful and Kankuro not really giving a dam.

"I'm-eh going to check on Shikamaru, to make sure the lazy bum hasn't fallen asleep" said Temari, following her out of the door.

**With Matsuri**

Once she had left the office, Matsuri sprinted for the ladies, trying to cover her eyes from passers-by. She glanced back and saw Temari running after her, so she ran faster.

_I can't let her see me sad. I don't want to look weak._

She saw the girl's toilets and saw her salvation. She pushed the door and ran into the nearest cubical. She turned the lock, closing herself off from the outside world. Hoping that the tears she shed, where hers and hers alone. Unfortunately when Temari is your friend, that isn't possible.

"Matsuri!" she shouted, knowing that she wouldn't get a reply. All she heard was the sounds of sobs and sniffs coming from the first cubicle. "Matsuri" she said softly, pushing her ear against the door.

"Leave me alone Temari" spoke Matsuri, through the sobs and sniffs.

"Matsuri you forget I'm a ninja with a huge fan, I will blow this door down if I have to"

"Please Temari, please, just leave me alone" Temari's face dropped a she heard her heartfelt pleas.

"Ok Matsuri, but when you want to talk, I'll be around" Temari turned to go, but before she did she said: "There's something between them, he might not know yet, but they share a bond like I've never seen, I've never known anyone to move him the way she does, and I don't think she means to, maybe she doesn't know" Temari chuckled. "If you saw them together, if you wait until you see them together, then maybe you'll see what I see" She then opened the door and left. Matsuri sobbed louder, realising that what Temari was true.

**With Gaara**

After speaking to Kankuro about continuing the mission, he called an emergency council meeting. He sat in his chair, waiting for the arrival of the council. Hands crossed on his lap, his head was tilted down but his eyes were glaring up at the empty chairs, as if he was trying to exuberate his anger upon them. As each council member stepped in one by one they saw his glare, and quivered at the sight, for they had never witnessed such an emotional outburst from him.

_He's not been like this since that Rei girl stepped in here._

Once everyone had entered and taken their seats, Kankuro who was watching over Gaara to make sure he didn't do anything rash, closed the door. Gaara remained silent, still sat in the same position, waiting for the right moment. After a while, the council members became confused.

"Kazekage-sama, why have you summoned us?" asked Shoro.

Slowly, Gaara rose from his seat.

"Rei-chan, was here when she was taken so it our duty-"

"But from what I heard she gladly left!" spoke Shoro, clearly angered by the young Kazekage.

"She left to save the lives of everyone in this village!" shouted Gaara. The council were silenced. "And I will do all in my power to save her!"

Gaara walked to the door, driven by powerful purpose.

"This meeting is over!"

**With Rei**

The morning rose and the sun's soft beams slowly drew Rei out of her sleep. Her eyes opened sluggishly, hoping that everything that had happened, was all a bad dream. But as her eyelids peeled away the sleep dust caught in them, she saw the blur of a man, standing over her, watching.

_Eron_

"Get up" he demanded, pulling her by her hair. She tried to stable her legs, but the lack of food had now caught up with her, and was hitting her hard.

"Get up!" he shouted again.

"I can't, I haven't eaten in 2 days!" she said looking up at her captor. Her face was blank but he could see the truth in her eyes and feel the hunger in her voice. He reached into his back pack and pulled out a loaf of bread.

"Eat this, we are going to need you at full strength" said Eron.

_Ah well, it's better than nothing._

She ate the bread so quickly it looked like she had absorbed it. At that moment, there was a rustle in the trees. Rei shot her head up whilst wiping the crumbs off of her face.

_There here._

She stood and prepared for an attack. Now that she had eaten, even though the amount was small, she was able to make herself more aware of her surroundings and try to come up with a plan: The means of escape. However, the rustling grew louder and a body finally emerged from the trees, it was a figure she did not expect.

_Tweedledum!_

Her eyes were tired and her clothes torn. Her wrists were locked in cold steel handcuffs that were weighing her down. She looked longingly at her sensei, praying that she would have some means of escape. Rei was shocked, from someone who was so usually cold and calm, it was frightening to see her this way. It was clear that they had made her run all this way without a break.

_What have they done to you?_

She went to walk towards her pupil when Eron pulled her back.

"Why did you drag her into this? She's only a child!" shouted Rei. Eron glared at Rei.

"Why would you care? You never cared for us!" replied Eron, gesturing towards Wincho and Emirata. Rei looked round and saw her ex-comrades. Wincho wore a black cloak that had the symbol for lightning on her arm in blue. All that could be seen was his eyes. They were dark, as if he was possessed. Emirata on the other wore a small, light blue crop top and a dark blue skirt that had slits up the side, revealing her legs and a set of kunai that rested on them. Her hair was long and flowed down her back. She was the one Rei was most scared of.

"I'll ask again, why did you take her? She has no business here!" shouted Rei, trying to gain some control and an answer; however the only answer she got was a kick to the back causing her to fall to the ground. Luckily she managed to catch herself before her face, face-planted the soil.

"Easy Eron, we need her" said Emirata in a very seductive way. She walked over to him and flung her arms around his shoulders.

"You will speak when you are spoken to!" shouted Eron placing a foot on Rei's back. Wincho pushed Sanchi down to the ground and watched her crawl towards her sensei.

"Are you alright?" Rei asked softly. Sanchi nodded and began to slowly close her eyes.

"You must stay awake!" said Rei, shaking Sanchi with her free hand.

"But I'm so tired" she replied. It was obvious to Rei that she would not be able to stay awake long.

"Eron, tie them up! We must prepare" demanded Emirata. Eron did as he was told and tied Rei and Sanchi to a tree. Once in place, Emirata bent down to Rei's eye level.

"If you try to escape, I will kill her. Have your rat keep an eye on them" The rat crawled from under Wincho's cloak and sat in front of the captured pair, small beady eyes glaring from Rei to Sanchi.

"I don't like that rat" said Sanchi.

"Well if you fall asleep it'll eat the wax out of your ear" said Rei.

"How can you still be weird when we've been captured?" asked Sanchi, her head still feeling heavy.

"Don't worry they'll let you go soon enough"

"How do you know?"

Rei was silent. She looked at her with reassuring eyes.

"Trust me, I made a promise to get you back to Suna" said Rei smiling. Sanchi's eyes became heavy and soon enough she had fallen asleep; resting her tired head upon Rei's shoulder.

_She may aswell sleep, she'll need her energy. Besides, I can watch over her._

**With Shikamaru**

Shikamaru had spent the day reviewing the reports from the other villages with Kankuro and Sakura. They were surrounded by tons of paperwork containing medical reports, psycho analyses, academic history, family reports, but in the hours of reading each piece they had come up with no conclusion and no plan. Shikamaru was pacing the room, reading over their initial reports, whilst Sakura dived into their medical histories to find weaknesses, and Kankuro was looking over their recorded ninja abilities.

Emirata was from the Land of Water and became a rogue ninja when she was 16, Wincho was from the Land of Lightning and …

_Died?_

…at the age of 14, his body was never found, and finally, Eron was from the Land of Earth and became a rogue at the age of 16 also.

_Emirata was the first to leave; it took her 2 years to find Eron and Wincho. But why did it take them so long to find Rei? They must have been planning something in that time, but what? _

Shikamaru suddenly stopped. He hands lunged into the reports, scrambling through each paper. His eyes flicked back and forth, trying desperately to find the ninja reports.

"You know it's weird, all of them took a great interest in genjutsus at one point at their time in the villages"

Shikamaru's head shot up.

"What else!" he shouted. Kankuro seemed confused.

"It's not much, apparently they all became very good at it, to the point where the villages feared them. Especially the one called Wincho. It says here that in his last few months, he locked himself in his room and spent all of his time on genjutsus. They believe that he may have been killed for something he may have discovered"

"Do they know what he might have discovered?" asked Shikamaru, pondering upon this new data.

"No, the house he lived in was burnt down, that's how he died" said Kankuro, handing over the report to Shikamaru.

"To make people disappear" said Shikamaru.

"That's convenient!" shouted Sakura.

"But why wait so long to get Rei? It doesn't make sense; if they had needed her for something then why not take her at a younger age!"

"So, wait, back-up" said Sakura. She lifted herself off the ground to face Shikamaru.

"How long did it take her to find Eron?" asked Sakura.

"According to the dates of the disappearances, 4 months, but I think she found Wincho first"

"It makes sense, the Land of Lightning is closer to the Land of Water" said Kankuro.

"I believe that she told Wincho to create a genjutsus whilst she went looking for Eron and when she was done she returned to Kumogakure and took Wincho with her"

"Are we sure she really didn't kill him?" asked Sakura, resting herself against the table.

"I don't think she could have even if she wanted, that's why I don't think Rei is dead now. They all grew up together, although Rei may not have been aware at the time, they shared a bond like no other. They are collectively the most powerful group this world has seen" said Shikamaru.

"…and they can't work alone! Maybe Emirata, Wincho and Eron felt lost without each other" said Sakura, starting to feel sorry for the trio.

"What about Rei? Would she have missed them?" asked Kankuro.

Shikamaru was silent; he stared out of the window, remembering the day when Rei joined the academy…

_*Flashback*_

"Good morning class" spoke a happy Iruka, however all he received were moans and a snoring Shikamaru who had fallen asleep. Iruka picked up a ruler and walked over to his desk. Chouji who was shoving his face with chips tried to nudge his friend out of his sleep, this happened to the point where he was shaking him violently. As if Iruka was walking in slow motion, so did the sweat drop running down Chouji's face, but it was too late.

"Shikamaru would you wake up!" shouted Iruka, whose faced appeared to have tripled in size and a vein on his forehead popped out to the point of grotesque. Shikamaru didn't react; he simply wiped his eyes open and gave Iruka a sleepy stare. His mouth stretched open as he yawned in his sensei's face. Iruka's vein popped out further, however before he had a chance to react there was a harsh knock at the door.

"Come in" said Iruka, walking over to the door. The door swung open and in walked an 8 year old Rei. Her face, as blank as paper and her eyes sending off a cold stare. Her head turned towards her 'comrades' and all she saw were fat, lazy boys and girls who looked like they squealed like pigs.

_Weak._

"Ah, the new student. Everyone I would like you to meet-eh- I'm sorry I've forgotten your name" said Iruka, seeming embarrassed.

Rei looked up at him. There was a long pause, an awkward pause. Iruka became nervous at the unchangeable stare of the young girl before him.

_They said she was powerful and very unemotional but this is killing me. _

"Rei" she said as she walked further into the room.

"Well, Rei" said Iruka trying to cough away the tension that had built up in his throat. "Why don't you tell the class a bit about yourself"

Rei stare out at the class and then at Iruka.

"Like what?" she said, seemingly unimpressed at the request.

"Well, what about your hobbies? Your likes and dislikes, you know, that kind of thing" he said as he sat down at his desk.

Shikamaru, who had been paying attention couldn't keep his eyes of the girl's blank face.

"I don't have hobbies, I have a purpose" said Rei. Everyone became very nervous.

"Well, what's your purpose?"

_Dare I ask._

"To never fail a mission and to become stronger in order to do so"

Everyone suddenly became very scared.

_Who is she?_

_*End of Flashback*_

"No, when she explained to me about where she came from, the last thing she mentioned were the people she was with" replied Shikamaru as his eyes his fell towards the ground.

"Wait a minute! If she didn't miss them, but they missed her, and if they did see her long before they made contact and they saw that she had no desire to see them, then they would need a way to change her mind!"

Shikamaru's eyes flew towards Sakura's, fear made his pupils shrink.

"What if she had seen Rei first?" said Kankuro, grabbing Rei's mission file.

"Then the genjutsus that Wincho created would have been…"

"Sakura, you must find a way to cancel out this type of genjutsus! Do what you can to find out the components needed for a jutsus like that"

"It says that Rei was on a mission in one of the islands of the mist, a month after Emirata had gone missing. She was with Kakashi sensei and…"

"Me, I was on that mission. But nothing significant ever happened. It was a delivery mission"

"But is it possible that Rei could have told you something about her past then, mentioned something about her comrades" asked Kankuro, stepping closer to the now puzzled Shikamaru.

"It's possible; I was always asking her questions. It took her ages to tell me the full story" answered Shikamaru, clutching his head, forcing the memory to emerge.

_*Flashback*_

"I must deliver this to the owner of this business, Ashugane; unfortunately he doesn't like youngsters in his presence, so you 2 will have to wait here. I'll only be half an hour" instructed Kakashi as he walked into the main building.

Rei and Shikamaru were leaning against a set of railings, looking out at a frozen lake. It was winter and everything here had turned to ice. The building behind them was also feeling the icy air, ice droplets formed on his roofs and the tiles were glazed in white snow. It was once a temple, but was converted into business enterprise that created ninja weapons. The Mizukage and Hokage agreed to exchange weapons information for information on the Itachi Uchiha, who had been seen in the village with Kisame Hoshigake not a few months ago. However, according to Shikamaru and Rei, it was a delivery mission, pure and simple. The pair had remained quiet; they had come to enjoy each other's silent company. That is until Shikamaru spoke.

"So, when are you going to tell me about your old home?"

Rei stared at Shikamaru. It was always the same question.

"When are you going to give up?" she asked. "You're too lazy to continue this forever"

"Never" he said plainly. She shook her head and continued to stare at the lake. Shikamaru followed her eye line and realised that she was staring at her reflection.

"Do you prefer who you are now?" he asked.

"Yes"

"It's it because you're not alone anymore?"

"No. There haven't been many moments in my life were loneliness has come to mind"

"But were you with other people? Before you came to us?" Shikamaru stepped closer to Rei, his icy breath hit her face, but she didn't flinch at it's cold touch.

"Yes, but we weren't friends, nor comrades"

"Would you want to see them again, if you could?"

"No, it would be too much of a reminder"

_*End of Flashback*_

"We must inform the Kazekage at once" Kankuro walked towards the door, but before going through he asked Shikamaru:

"But we still don't know where she is"

"If you wanted to remember something that you had forgotten, what would you do?" he asked Kankuro as he began to collect the reports together.

"I suppose I start from the beginning"

"Exactly"

AN: Hey, this is my longest chapter. I just went crazy and wrote loads. Hope you like it : D xx


	23. Chapter 23

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Now that the location is known, they must go and save Rei.

Chapter 23- A Plan into Action

**In Gaara's Office**

Gaara, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro and Sakura were all seated around the desk. They had spent the past hour going over possible tactics to defeat the enemy, going through weaknesses that Sakura had found through their medical histories and deciding the best way to counter attack the powerful but unknown jutsus.

"So we know where they're going, is it possible to get an aerial map of the area?" asked Temari

"We'd be wasting time, they're days in front of us already by then it would be too late" said Shikamaru.

"So, who is going after her then?" asked Kankuro. They all turned to face Gaara, who was resting his head on his hands.

_He's going to want to go, but the council won't allow it._

_Poor Gaara, it must be hard to know that he is duty bound to protect the village._

_I want to go, I want to protect her._

"Shikamaru will lead this operation; he may decide whom he takes" Gaara rose from his seat and left the room. Everyone was quiet, they all felt his pain, and all understood what it was like to not be able to protect someone who has become precious to you.

"It will be us 4 and one more ninja. Temari could you send word to the Hokage, there's a knuckle-headed ninja who will be able to help us. Tell him to meet us halfway, Konoha is closer to that area than we are" Temari nodded and began writing the letter.

"So here's the plan…"

**With Rei and Sanchi**

It was now the evening, they had been tied up all day and had been occasionally fed bread and water.

"So have you thought of a plan to get us out yet?" asked Sanchi.

"Have you?" said Rei. Sanchi moaned, loudly: "I'll take that as a no."

Rei looked back up at the sky. The truth was, she hadn't really been thinking about an escape plan, because all possible means of escape were hopeless. The rat hadn't moved all day, it stared at them, like they were the only things to see. There was only one think she could think of to do.

_At least she's awake now._

Rei then closed her eyes and focused on her chakra. She imagined her chakra slowly making it's way around the cold chains that kept them captured.

"Be prepared, it's about to get hot" said Rei, clenching her fists.

Tweedledum didn't have time to react before her sensei engulfed herself in flames. She let out a loud cry as the flames began to melt the metal away. Her figure slowly lost identity and all that was left was a glowing figure. The fire had become so intense that it ceased to be a warm orange, but had become a powerful white that penetrated the eyes of all who looked upon. As the flames danced around her, the metal slowly dripped off of her body and onto the ground. The rat which jumped back that the sudden burst of energy became blinded by the brightness of the flames.

_Good, but I don't have much time._

Tweedledum looked down in fear, realising she was about to be burnt and badly, however the feeling never came. The metal around her still felt as cold as ever, but it had loosened. She began to struggle for freedom; using every ounce of the strength she had in her to break herself free. Her arms began to bruise as she pressed firmer into the iron, but she didn't care, she couldn't afford to care.

_I must escape! For my sensei's sake, I must show her that her training has not gone to waste!_

In one moment she forced her chakra outward. The chain fell in defeat. Together they created a harmony of heavy breathing, before comprehending that they had not yet escaped. Rei got up and dragged Sanchi by the wrist, running as fast as she could, unfortunately, a fire that bright doesn't go unnoticed. The ground beneath her feet began to buckle, however she was still able to move.

_I must save Tweedledum! I made a promise I must not break!_

Rei took hold of Sanchi's other wrist and lifted her off the ground. In one mighty throw she tossed Sanchi into the air, using every last piece of her being to send Sanchi as far away as possible.

_Run home Tweedledum, at least now you are safe._

She then stopped moving and allowed the ground to absorb her, until only her head remained on the surface. Rei felt the earth tightening around her, every leaf and root taking hold of her body until she was immobile. Then Eron jumped into a plain sight.

"That was noble of you: sacrificing yourself to save your pupil. Bitch! I should kill you now! What makes her so special?" said Eron spitting into her face.

"Then KILL ME! Why won't you kill me?" Shouted Rei.

"Eron get her out of the ground! It's time" said Emirata as she slunk back into the darkness of the trees.

"If she remains conscience then she may escape, we can't risk that happening" said Wincho, who had also been lurking in the darkness. Eron's grin grew wide like a cat that had cornered the mouse. Before Rei could say another word, Eron launched his fist into Rei's temple, causing her to collapse. Her eyes slowly blurred until only darkness could be seen.

**At Dawn**

Shikamaru, Sakura, Temari and Kankuro had gathered at the main entrance, each one full of focus and the spirit to fight. The sun was slowly rising, its rays gracing the sands of the desert bringing out each passing sand cloud. The soft winds that gently blew past them filled Shikamaru with a peaceful silence as he inhaled.

_We're coming for you Rei!_

As he exhaled, he turned to his teammates.

"You know what to do, now, let's bring Rei home" and with that he shot off through the desert.

The journey across the desert was a breeze, the heat of the sun that day did not make them sweat buckets of liquid salt, or cause their bodies to feel heavy and tired. They had gotten lucky with the weather and were able to make it across the desert without stopping for a break. Throughout the day, a light wind that blew with them was constantly cooling their skin allowing them to travel faster; it was as if someone was trying to help them. Shikamaru, who was always in front was constantly on the lookout.

_The last thing we need is a distraction from other ninja._

It drew near evening and they had reached the border between the green forest and the brown sands. Kankuro set up camp whilst Temari and Sakura searched for firewood.

"We are making good progress, we should be there by midday tomorrow" spoke Shikamaru, taking a seat by the fire.

"We should work in shifts tonight, I will keep first-"

"No" said Kankuro, towering his leader. "I don't feel like sleeping tonight, I will keep watch"

Shikamaru nodded. "Then you must sleep now, for 3 hours. We are going to need you at full capacity tomorrow"

Kankuro was about to argue, but changed his mind. Now was not the time for disagreements, and he knew Shikamaru was right. He crawled into the tent and fell into a light sleep. At that moment, Sakura and Temari returned with more firewood.

"This should get us through the night. When are we meeting Naruto?" asked Sakura, placing herself next to Shikamaru.

"I told him to be here tomorrow morning at 8" said Shikamaru. "I'll do the first shift; you 2 should get some sleep"

The night was a quiet one. It was the calm before the storm and tension was high. No one spoke. Kankuro dragged himself from his bed and crawled out of the tent. He looked out upon the camp and saw only the remains of a burnt out fire.

_Where's Shikamaru?_

"Up here" said a voice. He looked up and saw Shikamaru sitting on the branch of a tree watching over the camp, staring into the darkness of the night. Kankuro climbed up the tree and joined him on a nearby branch. A silence grew between them.

"You can go to bed" said Kankuro.

"Rei and I used to climb up the faces of Konoha and stare out into the sunset and train whilst the sky changed colours"

Kankuro's eyes turned to the sky, hoping that the painting that was going on before him would be enough to lift his spirits. He was wrong.

_It's as though the sky has lost something, maybe it's missing a colour._

"We must get her back" he said.

**In the Morning**

The tent was packed away and the fire had long gone out. The sun was only just beginning to rise above the forest, glimmers of light peeking through the gaps in the leaves. All four stood around the dead fire waiting for the knuckle-headed ninja, watching the charred wood slowly burn away to become nothing more than dust.

_7:59am._

All of a sudden an orange blur flashed past the group.

_Naruto, idiot._

A few moments later the orange blur came back.

"I'm here!"

Sakura stepped forward and punched him in the face.

"Moron!"

"Sakura-chan! At least I'm not late"

"That's true" said Sakura stepping away from her near unconscious comrade.

"We don't have time for this. Naruto did Tsunade keep you updated on the situation?" spoke Shikamaru. Naruto nodded.

"I'll explain the plan on the way there. We have one goal today; retrieve Rei through any means possible. This is a delicate situation so tread lightly, don't go rushing into things Naruto!"

Naruto's face became serious. He could see the intense look in Shikamaru's eyes that put him on edge.

"This is mission we must not fail! Let's move out!"

**At the old training grounds**

"They're on their way" said Eron who had slunk out of the darkness of the trees. Emirata smiled evilly.

"Then it's time!" she said as she looked over at Rei who was standing by the run down training site.

"First we kill the ones closest to her, and then we take out the strongest of them all, the kages"

Eron smile grew wide to the point where if it had gone any further it would have fallen off of his face. Wincho was standing by Rei watching her every move.

_I wonder what she's thinking…_

**Sometime later…**

It was 12:00pm and the team had reached the old training grounds. They stayed hidden in the trees, waiting, waiting…but nothing. Shikamaru spent the time studying the layout, it wasn't much: an open field, surrounded by a forest, an old burnt down building sat in ruins in the middle. Shikamaru glanced over at the others who were silently waiting to attack. He signalled them to split up in pairs and to leave him on his own. Sakura and Naruto ran silently towards the right whilst Temari and Kankuro ran towards the left, if someone had to draw them out than he would. Another 10 minutes past and still nothing, when suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake, it became so violently that all of them were shaken out of their positions and into the open field, once that was done the earthquake stopped. All of them scrambled to their feet, now on the edge, expecting an attack. Instead all they heard was the moaning of the wind and footsteps that stomped the ground beneath. Coming from the north direction, they all regrouped waiting for the enemy to reveal themselves. Their breathing was light, but it was the only thing that could be heard in the silence; in one moment that seemed to go on for a life time. When slowly, but surely, did the trio emerge. Eron was the first to appear, crawling out from under the brushes like a rat that dared the sunlight. Then Wincho appeared in a flash of lightning, still hidden under his cloak and the finally Emirata walked onto the scene like she was the Queen of Sheba. It had become a stand-off, Emirata giggled when she looked at Rei's rescue team. Sakura scoffed at her reaction.

_That cow! We're going to beat her CHA!_

But before battle could commence, Naruto pitched up a comment.

"You assholes! Where's Rei? What have you done with her?" he shouted, taking a step closer to the trio. Emirata and Eron laughed, whereas Wincho remained silent.

"Whatever do you mean, she's right behind you" said Emirata, pointing in their direction.

All of them turned their heads sharply expecting Rei to be tied up or worse dead, but she wasn't. They stared at her: no bruises, no cuts, no blood, nothing. Her face was as cold as death, her eyes were filled with nothingness, she looked hollow as if someone had ripped out her insides.

"Rei! Thank goodness you're alright!" cried Naruto who naively ran over to his comrade. However what happened next was not what he was expecting. As he ran to her, arms wide for a hug, she stepped forward and punched him straight in the stomach, sending him back to Sakura. Everyone looked mortified.

_We're too late._

"That's not the Rei we know" said Shikamaru. The other four looked at him, their eyes begging that it wasn't true.

"That's right!" laughed Emirata who now appeared next to Rei. "This is the old Rei, the strong and most powerful Rei"

"The emotionless Rei" said Shikamaru.

"The Rei you know is dead!" cried Eron.

"Oh how the story ends, Rei, once a ghost of a human, then became human and is now no more than a weapon, the strongest weapon, and now she will kill you" said Wincho in the most serious of tones. They all stepped away from Rei, it was clear to Shikamaru that even they feared her power.

"Get ready to fight said Shikamaru pulling out a kunai, "Follow the plan."

"But what if we can't break the genjutsus" said Sakura.

_I was hoping she wouldn't say that, because I don't want to think about it._

"We'll deal with that when the time comes" answered Shikamaru. They all got ready in their fighting stances. The trio also took position whilst Rei just stood there, as if nothing was happening.

And now the storm.

AN: Hey I hope you like this one :D Again I'm sorry it took so long, I'm really bad at updating quickly x


	24. Chapter 24

Sand In Your Eye Full Story

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: The fighting begins but will they be able to break Rei out of the genjutsus, or have they lost her forever?

Chapter 24- The fight goes on

Naruto was the first to launch in with an attack.

"Shadow clone jutsus!" shouted Naruto as he charged towards Rei. Rei prepared herself to counter attack; but to her surprise his clones ran straight round her and headed for the trio at the back. He had created 30 clones, sending 10 after each clone.

_Well done Naruto! Separate them; they'll be more vulnerable when they are alone._

_I'll leave Rei to you Shikamaru._

Emirata and Eron jumped back from the clone, whereas Wincho slowly raised his hands to the sky after forming several hand signs.

"Lightning jutsus: Human conductor!" A huge bolt of lightning hit his body, igniting his chakra. All of Naruto's clones that stood within 5 metres of him were destroyed almost instantly. Wincho reached under his cloak and pulled out a sword that had electricity buzzing around it. He lunged forward and attacked the remaining Naruto clones. Wincho was about to place his blade away when he was suddenly swept away and sent hurdling into the trees. Temari had jumped a surprise attack on him using her Dust Wind Technique.

_Wind against lightning, I have the advantage._

Kankuro and Sakura had run after Emirata and left Naruto to deal with Eron. The only people left on the field were Rei and Shikamaru. The battle had even started and Shikamaru could feel the sweat dripping off of his brow.

_The sun's been at his highest point but my Shadow Possession won't work out here in the open, she would be able to easily dodge it. I have to lure her into the forest, but she knows my jutsus and she doesn't look like she's going to go anywhere anytime soon. I've got no choice; I've got to make the first move. _

Shikamaru ran towards her, using his kunai as a guard. The metal clanged as their weapons clashed, the sound ringing through their ears.

_She was prepared the whole time._

They both jumped back at the force of the attack. This time Rei ran in first, flicking her kunai in his direction, causing him to go on the run. This was now a chase. Rei leapt off the side of the burnt down building and into the air.

_She's going to use that jutsus._

"Fire style: Fire ball jutsus!" shouted Rei after a succession of hand signs. Shikamaru dodged them with ease.

_Maybe she's saving it for later._

Rei landed on the grass, surrounded by the diffusing flames.

"Shadow Neck-Binding Technique!" shouted Shikamaru, using the flames of the fire to create shadows around his friend. She froze her body; her eyes became wide with shock.

_That was too easy._

He hesitated before allowing the shadow hand to squeeze tighter on her body, however as soon as he did, her figure exploded into clouds of smoke.

_A Shadow Clone!_

Rei was now running at him from behind holding her kunai, ready to cut his jugular.

_The fire ball jutsus was a distraction!_

In a split second he turned and blocked her attack, however his body had become unbalanced almost falling to the ground. Rei's eyes closed and for a moment allowed Shikamaru to exert more force than before, however her body began to heat up and steam came off of her body. Shikamaru's eyes shock with fear.

_Shit!_

Suddenly Rei combusted into flames, luckily for Shikamaru he knew this technique so he managed to jump away before receiving any severe burns.

**With Naruto**

Naruto had foolishly chased Eron into the trees which now had become his danger zone. As the forest became denser he began to lose sight of Eron. Naruto stopped and scanned his environment.

_That bastard!_

Suddenly the ground began to shake.

_Not this again!_

Naruto and his clones in a panic began to scramble up the trees, however instead of an earthquake, giant mud hands emerged from beneath them. The hands weaved their way around trees, crashing through branches, causing destruction to the greenery around them. Naruto would glance back but realise he couldn't do anything but run.

_I have to find that bastard._

Naruto used multiple shadow clone jutsus and then dispersed his clones throughout the forest. Once he had done this, he realised that Eron could not summon any more hands; however a face began to form in the soil. Naruto observed the mud move to create…

_A face?_

Rocks became eyes, mud slowly formed into a nose and all manners of earthly goods were pulled into this horror.

_Pah! What can a face do?_

Suddenly, the face began to pull itself away from the soil. The neck that grew from it gone longer and longer until it resembled a snake. Naruto's eyes began to shake in their sockets.

_I can't let him know I'm looking for him! _

Naruto sharply turned round and prepared his clones for an astounding jutsus. "Rasengen!" shouted Naruto, hurdling towards one of the hands with the powerful, spiralling blue jutsus. The massive force of the jutsus blew one of the hands to pieces, creating a shower of mud and rocks.

Hidden in the bushes, 10 metres away from Naruto's position, Eron was hiding in the dirt. He scowled at the knuckle head ninja, surprised that he would know such a powerful jutsus. He winced in pain when he realised his hand felt like it was burning from the inside.

_He's stronger than he looks._

Naruto was grinning, but that grin soon disappeared when another hand shot out of the ground.

_Dam!_

"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsus" shouted Naruto, now creating more than 100 clones. Simultaneously they all attack the hands and face, trying to bring them down with brute force. Unknown to Naruto his plan was working. However Eron was stubborn and refused to lose to him. The hands, although they began to crumble at the constant impact of punches and kicks, where still able to destroy as many clones as Naruto could create. Eron hands now shook violently; never before had he faced someone so relentless. Suddenly the hands stopped attacking Naruto's clones. He looked on, confused and slightly worried about what was going to happen next. The hands then began to make hand signs.

"Earth Release: Mud Indulgence!" shouted Eron. Naruto turned around sharply, finally have some clue as to where his enemy was hiding, however no sooner did he have time to react did a huge river of mud came blasting through the earth and heading in his direction.

_I'll drown you in mud!_

Naruto's clones that were caught in the mud slide where wiped out instantly leaving Naruto on the run, however not even he could out run the moving river that grew more ferocious as it gathered more mud. Naruto gripped onto the nearest branch and held on with dear life as the mud slide smashed past time. When the mud began to calm down, Naruto released a heavy breath, relieved that it was over, or so he thought.

_Earth Style: Underground Projection Fish._

As the earth settled Naruto climbed further up the tree to avoid sinking into the still wet earth. By now Naruto had realised that his enemy must have moved positions.

_That bastard!_

Suddenly, Eron appeared below Naruto, emerging from the mud like a swamp monster. Eron grabbed onto Naruto's ankles and started to pull him into the mud. Naruto tried frantically to shake off Eron but to no avail. Eron laughed manically.

"I'm going to drown you! You'll be sorry you ever tried to fight me!" shouted Eron as he pull on Naruto grew stronger.

Naruto then smirked.

"What are you smiling at you bastard?" shouted Eron, rage filling his eyes. Naruto then very cheekily pointed behind Eron where 3 Naruto's stood, one holding a giant white shuriken.

"What is that jutsus?" said Eron, but before Naruto would answer, he grabbed onto Eron's wrist and began pulling him towards the sky with 10 clones in toe helping him out.

"I'm going to be Hokage one day! And no one will stop me getting to my dream and I will get Rei back from your evil clutches" shouted Naruto, pride filling his voice.

"When did you-" Eron screamed as the Rasenshuriken came hurdling towards him. His eyes grew wide with fear realising that he wasn't facing any ordinary ninja. The white became brighter; his whole body shook with fear.

_I underestimated him._

Then it hit him, Eron felt like his guts were being ripped apart; his chakra network was being sliced open; he felt like his muscles were removing themselves from the bone; his veins were knotting inside of his body. Naruto's clones that were holding onto his wrist were destroyed and the impact of the jutsus and all that was left was Naruto standing over his enemy with only pity in his eyes. Naruto's breathing had become heavy, it was clear that he was out of chakra. He looked down at the trembling Eron.

_He can't fight anymore._

He was about to run off to find the others when he was stopped by a voice.

"Why do you care so much? Rei was a murderer when she was 4, born and bred in this way, she can never escape who she really is" shouted Eron in a desperate plea.

"It's not about who she was, it's about who she is" said Naruto. Then he ran off to find the others, leaving Eron with his thoughts and a broken body.

**With Sakura and Kankuro**

Sakura and Kankuro had been chasing Emirata until they had reached the edge of a cliff where she had vanished without a trace. Sakura looked over the cliff and saw a vast blue sea, something so peaceful yet so terrifying.

"Remember Kankuro, she's a water user so be on guard?" shouted Sakura taking a defensive position. Before Kankuro had time to react and a huge tidal wave of water was heading straight for them.

_I can't use my jutsus!_

"_You have to wait for the right time; you're my only hope for getting her back"_

Sakura and Kankuro jumped out of the way of the wave as it crashed into the land. Kankuro peered over the edge and saw Emirata; she had her back pressed against the cliff and her arms raised into the air. Kankuro, without thought, began to slide down the cliff face. Sakura was shocked but soon joined him in this pursuit. Emirata glanced upward, not expecting that her enemies would be sliding down the cliff after her. She dived into the sea and disappeared amongst the waves. Then everything was still.

_Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!_

"So this is how she plays her games" shouted Sakura. Kankuro eye's scanned over the vast sea, when he noticed a whirlpool begin to form. Suddenly a great dragon burst out of it and began to shoot water petals from its mouth. Sakura and Kankuro were able to dodge them and start making their way towards Emirata.

"She seems to prefer long range attacks, if I could get close to her and then maybe I could do some damage" shouted Sakura whilst dodging the continuous attack of water pellets.

_Ha, got you!_

Suddenly, the water from beneath their feet vanished, creating a hole in the ocean. Kankuro, who didn't have time to react fell straight to the bottom of the sea, Sakura on the other hand was able to jump out of the way.

_We're in her territory, we need to be careful! He needs to focus!_

_Dam it! What's wrong with me? I dislike water._

_I'll drown you!_

Then the hole was filled back up with water, leaving Kankuro at the bottom of the ocean. Emirata smirked but couldn't enjoy because Sakura was now on the attack. They were now in a close combat fight. Sakura was fast, using to kunai to attack and defend; she wouldn't give Emirata the time to create hand signs. At a split second where Emirata had dropped her guard, Sakura took the opportunity to punch her clean in the face, only to find that she had been fighting a water clone all along.

Sakura was then surrounded by water clones each holding a single kunai.

_Fine! 2 can play at this game._

Sakura summoned some shadow clones to even the odds. As they thought on the ocean, Kankuro was swimming below them, trying to work out which one of them was real.

_If she tries to avoid close combat, then maybe none of them are her!_

Kankuro whipped his head around, scanning the depths of the ocean.

_She could be anywhere!_

Sakura had destroyed all of the clones was soon also hit with this realisation, but before she could think of a counter attack, a huge wave was approaching her at top speed. She ran for dry land as quickly as she could, meanwhile Kankuro was swept up in the tidal wave and was attempting to ride his chakra like a surf board. Kankuro glanced back and saw a watery image standing a mile away. Sakura had made it to the small beach area and had begun her run up the side of the cliff. When she reached the top, she stood patiently, waiting for the wave to hit her. Kankuro, who had decided a surprise attack would be best, dropped himself back into the water, trying his hardest to hide in the waves. The tidal wave drew closer to Sakura, yet still she did not move.

_What is she doing?_

Emirata was confused.

_Fine then, you will die!_

Tidal wave crashed into the cliff like a car in wreckage, the face of the cliff began to crumble, but when Emirata looked for Sakura's dead body, it was not insight. Sakura, who at a vital moment, managed to jump the wave was now on a frontal attack. Charging her feet up with chakra she quickly made her way towards the real Emirata.

_She won't catch me._

But, before she could disappear into the ocean, a pair of kunai stabbed straight through her legs.

_How could he have swum that long under water?_

As he pulled himself up, using the kunai he had pierced into her legs, they began to slowly rip her skin as he tugged harder and harder. She let out a painful cry. Unaware of what was going to happen next, she released her chakra from her feet and fell into the ocean. Sakura dived in after her.

_He's going to need all the help he can get! We need to get her to the surface!_

It had now become an underwater battle. Although Emirata could no longer use water clones, (because a trail of blood that dripped from her legs gave away her position) she still had many jutsus up her sleeve, even though her chakra level was slowly depleting. Kankuro who needed to come up for air swam for the surface but was dragged under by Emirata whose eyes were full of anger. Suddenly an orange flash dropped into the sea and kicked Emirata hard in the face, causing her to float unconsciously ergo releasing Kankuro from her clutches. Kankuro looked round and saw that Naruto had joined the fight. He sent Kankuro an underwater grin before motioning towards the surface. As Emirata drifted unconscious in the sea, Sakura took this opportunity to drag her to the surface. It didn't take them long to reach the beach.

"You should go and help Shikamaru Kankuro, he's going to need you" said Sakura as she examined the body of Emirata.

"Is she dead?" asked Naruto who was trying to dry off his jacket.

"No just unconscious" said Sakura.

_But is that it?_

"Well at least now you and I can find Temari" said Naruto grinning.

They were all about to stand up, when a shooting pain shot through their skulls. All 3 of them cried out as a watery figure emerged from the sea. It was Emirata.

"What the-" cried Sakura, but she couldn't finish her sentence because the pain was too great. Emirata laughed wickedly.

"It's my own genjutsus, I named It the Water Doll." Said Emirata, allowing the doll to turn back into water.

"But how?" said Kankuro.

"I am a genjutsus master! You only had to look at her and you were caught under it, it's undetectable and unstoppable. You were forced to believe that that was the real me, when all this time and hid in the waves waiting for you to weaken, that is until this idiot came along" explained Emirata now glaring at Naruto. He tried to smile sarcastically but could not.

"But that doesn't matter now, you will under my most powerful for my mind manipulation. You know, it was Rei who gave me the idea for the Water Doll. Pity, you are all quite strong, it's too bad that you weren't able to save Rei and after all you've been through, you know she's really not worth the pain" spoke Emirata.

Kankuro glared at her, sweat dripped off his brow. Slowly he raised his hand so that his palm was facing her.

"You are a fool" spoke Kankuro between breaths. He groaned as she increased the pain. "You should have never let us come to land" Emirata was bewildered but soon discovered the meaning of his words when her body was suddenly wrapped in sand.

"But you, you're a puppet master, how can you control sand?" cried Emirata. Her eyes grew wide with fear, dreading of the outcome of this jutsus.

_Sand Coffin!_

One last scream was heard before she was silenced. Blood began to drip into the sea, infecting the blue waters. Sakura and Naruto let out a sigh of relief, however none of them had the energy to move. 'Kankuro' released the jutsus and watched her body drop. Her eyes were still wide; the last moment of her life was glued to her face. He splashed heavily into the sea and began to slowly sink.

"Gaara" said Sakura. "I'm glad we brought you along, but you can't come out of disguise yet, Rei mustn't know that you're here, at least not yet anyway" Sakura tried to push herself to her feet but failed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a food pill.

"Here, you have to go and help Shikamaru, whilst the other 2 aren't there to influence her" Gaara nodded. He swallowed the food pill and began his trek back towards the training grounds.

"Here I have 2 more, when we can we shall go and help Temari" said Sakura.

**With Temari**

Temari and Wincho were facing each other off. The battle they had fought had been long, but neither would willingly give in. It was fan against sword, wind against lightning, and although Temari had the advantage, Wincho was relentless and had a seeming unlimited amount of chakra. Temari was covered in burns; every so often a jolt of lightning would make it past her wind defence and stain her skin in red mark, even her fan now had scars of its own. Wincho's cloak had become tattered from the endless barrage of wind attacks, his only weakness and his sword was slightly bent when he tried a head on attack, that resulted in the steel of Temari's fan bending his lightning infused sword. It seemed like this battle would go on for a life time.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

Wincho remained silent.

"Look! Whatever happened in the past, whoever Rei was, whatever she did to you, she isn't like that now, she's changed!" shouted Temari, hoping her words had penetrated his heart.

Wincho was still silent. This made Temari angry and frustrated, steam began to rise from her ears, but it stopped when Wincho finally spoke.

"This isn't about Rei, it's about people like you" said Wincho in a monotone voice. Temari became confused.

"You, and your families, all so happy together" said Wincho, resentment beginning to spill out of his mouth like drool.

"Your family left you?" asked Temari, her eyes softened as she could see the sadness radiate off of him.

"That's none of your business" shouted Wincho, showing a clear sign of emotion for the first time. "I will break every family imaginable, until you all suffer like I suffered! It is not my fault I was chosen, yet my family still chose to punish me, until their hearts could not bear my existence anymore"

"They killed themselves?" said Temari her eyes now full of sympathy. She realised then that they only way to win this battle was through his heart, not through strength.

"Even on the day they came to collect me, they resented me, they resented how strong I had become, stronger than them. Each and every day they would try to break me, knowing that they were bound an oath not to kill me, they tried everything, until their own hearts broke at their continual failures. What they didn't realise was that, that was all that was needed. A young child, left alone in the world, feared and hated by everyone, do you know what that is like?"

Temari bowed her head in shame, but not his story, at the fact that she had heard this story before.

"The Kazekage does, my younger brother" said Temari softly. Wincho stood confused.

"You betrayed your own sibling?" said Wincho. Temari looked at him with disgrace.

"Yes, he knows exactly what that is like, more than anyone you'll ever meet" Wincho became more interested.

"But then how did he become the Kazekage?" shouted Wincho, trying hard not to be absorb into her story.

"A knuckleheaded ninja came along and inspired him to rise above it and also…" said Temari, chuckling slightly when she thought of Naruto and his 'believe it' catch phrase. Wincho tilted his head slightly in confusion. He took a step closer to Temari and was surprised that she did not raise her guard.

"You see, Gaara never knew how to love, he still doesn't really know what it is, but then Rei came along" Wincho's pupils began to shake.

"She came along and acted like a complete weirdo, but in doing so, showed him how to love"

"Rei did that?" said Wincho. An image of the old Rei flashed through his mind.

_The girl I once feared, the girl who was born empty._

"And does she love him back?" asked Wincho. Temari paused for a moment and then sent him a gentle smile.

"I believe so yes, even though she hasn't realised it yet" Wincho looked down at his blade and recalled the battle in her head.

"And why do you fight?" he asked her.

"Because I want my brother to be happy, in a way I'm repenting for all the years that I caused him suffering" said Temari, a tear now spilling from her eye. Wincho stared at his blade, before throwing it to the ground.

"This battle is yours" he stated as he disappeared into the shadows. Temari remained shocked, she glanced around but couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything in the wind.

_He's really gone._

Temari walked over to the blade and picked it up. At that moment Naruto and Sakura appeared through the trees behind her.

"Where is he?" shouted Naruto, his face similar to a charging ball.

"He's gone" said Temari, placing the sword in her ribbon that tied around her waist.

"Gone? Gone where?" Sakura asked.

"To get a new life, I think" said Temari. "Now come on, the real battle hasn't begun yet"

AN: Hello, I'm sorry it took so long. I hope you can all see this battle in your heads, that's what I've been trying to achieve this past week and a bit. Hope you like it =]


	25. Chapter 25

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: The final battle has begun, as they all fight against and for Rei, she must win the battle within her own heart in order to be free.

Chapter 25: You Are Not Alone

Shikamaru was on his last legs, his breath was raspy, and his muscles felt weak and his skin felt sore from the burns and cuts he had received. As he was about to make his final move, the others came bursting through the trees, looking just as exhausted as he did.

_At least they're not dead._

Temari was filled with worry when she saw Shikamaru, which he replied with a reassuring smile. Rei, who was also feeling the exhaustion of a drawn out battle, turned round and saw that none of her old comrades were there. She stared blankly into the eyes of their victors, as if trying to see each battle, trying to work out how they died. When she beheld Kankuro, something inside jerked, as if her heart twitched. Her monotonous face dropped slightly, displaying her confusion; however she immediately shook it off and turned back to Shikamaru.

"Is she still under the genjutsus?" asked Naruto, believing that killing her former comrades would have severed the connection.

"Yes, it would appear so" said Kankuro; his eyes fell to the ground with sadness.

"The genjutsus mustn't have been connected to any of them, the only other possible explanation is that they each exerted a certain amount of chakra into her brain, literally giving up some of their chakra to make the genjutsus permanent" said Sakura. "She may be able to dispel the jutsus, but not only does she not want to, it's more likely that it's too powerful and she just can't. Either way, this will be the most difficult challenge of them all"

They all watched Rei as she stood staring at Shikamaru. Temari noticed a twitch in Rei's arm, realising that she was about to go in for an attack Temari charged in first.

"Dust Wind Technique!" shouted Temari, sending Rei flying into her old home. Kankuro was about to run after her but was stopped by Naruto.

"I have to save her!" shouted Kankuro, shaking Naruto's arm off of his shoulder. Rei shook off the rubble that lay on top and stared at Temari who was now standing by Shikamaru. Rei slowly raised her hands and began to form hand signs. Shikamaru's knees buckled, he could not fight anymore.

"Are you alright?" spoke a panicked Temari.

"I'm fine, but Rei will be on the attack, she's been ordered to kill us, so nothing will stop her" said Shikamaru as he glanced over at Rei. His eyes flickered wide.

_Shit! I can't move._

"Watch out!" screamed Sakura, pushing them out of the way of an incoming fireball.

"How can she still be able to perform ninjutsus!" shouted Naruto, positioning himself between Rei and Shikamaru in a defensive stance.

"Nothing will stop her! Not until she succeeds in her mission! She's always been like that!" shouted Shikamaru. He then winced in pain as it shot down his left leg.

"Sakura, you need to heal him, we'll handle Rei" said Temari, handing Shikamaru over to Sakura. Kankuro was still standing by the borders of the forest; he just didn't know what to do.

_I can't hurt her, but…Rei what have you done to me?_

He ran over to join the line that Temari and Naruto had formed. Rei slowly made her way out of the rubble and observed her new opponents. She sent them a cold glare, but when Kankuro joined the line, her heart jerked again.

"_Rei, you must never fail a mission, nothing else matters, not even the lives of those you love"_

The words thumped into her head like a drum beat. She clutched onto her head, hoping that the monotonous thudding would fade away. When it didn't, her eyes blazed as she ran in for an attack, her fist raged with fire as she took swings at Kankuro. She had become blinded by the flames and the rage. Naruto seized an opportunity to join the battle. He created 20 shadow clones and dog piled Rei to the ground, however steam began to rise through the empty gaps and it wasn't long before Naruto's clones were on fire either running or rolling around on the grass. Rei began to rise from the ground, but not before Temari could attack.

_Wind Technique: Severe Pressure_

Suddenly a huge tornado began to form above Rei. The fierce wind lashed though the sky, as if trying to tear it to shreds. The fire on Rei's body began to grow intensely, however it was not Rei's chakra doing this but the wind, but before Rei could use this to her advantage the tornado forced its way down on top of Rei. The wind of Temari's jutsus was so strong that the fire began to revolve around it, removing it as a defence for Rei. Kankuro looked on in fear, he knew what was about to happen and became anxious for Rei's life. Without warning or hesitation he ran towards her.

The others watched on, but all they could hear was the sound of a thunderous crash and then silence. The jutsus was so powerful that dust had rose around the field, removing all visibility of the battle in front of them. As it began to settle the true result of the blast began to show. Shock: for what they beheld was something that none of them suspected. Kankuro leaning over Rei with blood spurting out of his back, he had taken the full force of the jutsus in order to protect her. Rei was lying on the ground trembling; she gazed up at her opponent, looked deep into his eyes and saw...

Rei cried out as she flipped Kankuro onto his back so that now she was straddling him. She shook wildly; a kunai was now placed in her hands that hovered over her head, ready to pierce Kankuro in the heart. The moment before the attack seemed to last forever.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you" spoke Kankuro between breaths. Rei was stunned and her body shook even more to prove it. The pounding in her head grew louder and louder, her eyes winced in pain, she could not bear it for much longer.

"Rei- sensei you can't do this!" cried a voice. Everyone turned and saw Sanchi standing there. "Please don't let them control you; you're so much better than that!" Rei didn't bother turning her head, but still couldn't help but feel pity for the girl, because a voice resonated in Rei's head.

"_Kill everyone who stands in your way"_

Rei took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. There was something about her opponent, she couldn't look at him, nor could she just turn away. She prepared herself for the attack, to make the final blow and end this battle. As she was about to attack, her eyes flickered open for a moment, and then she saw it, the sand that fell off of his skin, cracks began to form in his face and when she looked into his eyes she became lost in them.

**In Rei's Mind**

Rei stood on the shores of a beach in a loose top and shorts, no shoes, in times of trouble Rei would escape to this place in her mind because she found it most relaxing. The soft feel of the sand, the warm and gentle breeze, the easy crashing of the waves all came together like a beautiful symphony, all playing for her. Any answer that she needed, any logical plan that she had to think of would come to her in this place. When she looked around at the empty plains, she saw to her surprise a young girl with her back to the ocean and her eyes closed. Normally Rei would be here on her own with only the sea, sand and sky as her company. She got up and began walking over to the girl, but every time she would take a step closer, the girl would take one away. Rei became confused, so she began to run, but so did the young girl. It didn't take long to notice that the young girl was wearing the same clothes that she was. Rei ran faster, wanting, needing to know who this girl was. Rei then stopped, and to her surprise so did the girl.

"Who are you?" she said, trying to resist the urge to move closer. The girl slowly turned her head; her eyes stared coldly at the woman before her. Rei's head fell in shame as she began to realise who the young girl was. She fell to her knees, and tears began to form.

"I'm sorry" she pleaded but the girl just ignored her, but she couldn't run away and Rei couldn't move any closer. They were trapped at a distance, created from all the years that Rei had chosen to reject her old self and her former life. When Rei looked up, she noticed that the girl's body was not whole, that Rei could see the beach straight through her. A tear began to form in her eye. She had become a ghost.

"I'm sorry, I wanted so much to not be the person I was, to not be you, the fear and the scorning and the hate, although I may not have shown it, was something that I could not bear. Around the people of Konoha, where emotion thrived I was a ghost, something people feared but could not touch. So I decided to push you away, to become someone new, what I didn't realise was that I rejected your existence altogether, that I may aswell have erased my memories of you, I mean, of us"

The young girl quickly turned her body round and looked into the eyes of her older self. Her face was blank but her eyes spoke differently.

"Of us?" spoke the young girl. Rei smiled and nodded.

"I won't turn you away, you don't have to feel alone, I know how you felt, how we felt, we don't have to be lonely anymore" As if in unison both girls shed a tear. They slowly took steps towards each other which quickly turned into a run. They embraced in a moment that would last forever, however a thought hit them both.

"Gaara!"

**Back to reality**

Kankuro looked up in shock as the tears poured out of Rei's eyes, as if she was experiencing all the sadness of the world. As he began to sit up slowly, he allowed all the sand to fall off of his face revealing Kankuro's true face to Rei: Gaara. He watched the salty tears leave her eyes and stroke her cheeks, she was still trembling over him but that died down when a kunai came from behind and knocked hers out of her hand, that was Sanchi. Gaara's hands moved to touch her cheeks; he held her face gently, he could feel the heat radiating off her, the tears she had spilt fell between his fingers. He used his thumbs and began to wipe them away. Rei's eyes gradually opened, they were red and puffy and looked extremely tired. Her vision was blurred but she could still see the cuts and bruises that adorned his face.

"I'm so sorry Gaara" she spoke through breaths. Her head fell into his chest, like it was supporting all the shame and guilt she felt. Gaara blushed when he realised that her face was buried in his chest, he lifted her face so that their eyes met and then rested his forehead against hers.

"You've nothing to be sorry for" he said in a soft tone. Everyone else who had come to the conclusion that the fight was now over began to make their way over to the pair. Naruto was first there, covered in burns but grinning.

"It's nice to have you back!" he shouted happily giving her a hard slap on the back, causing her to fall on top of Gaara once again. Rei looked down at Gaara, a small blush tinting her face, but she was too tired to move anywhere, so she decided that he was a comfortable enough pillow to stay on. Gaara was surprised when she didn't move but he smiled, secretly he liked it. He pushed himself off the ground and placed Rei in his arms.

"Naruto! Be careful!" shouted Sakura, too weak to actually punch him in the face; however Naruto still cowered beneath her.

"Is sensei ok now?" asked Sanchi.

"She's fine Sanchi" replied Shikamaru placing a hand on her hand. She smiled.

"No it's alright I can walk" said an exhausted Rei, but Gaara didn't respond. When he glanced down, he'd noticed that she had drifted into dreams.

"We should head back" he said to the others. They all nodded and followed him back into the forest. Temari trailed behind carrying a limping Shikamaru; she smiled when she saw Rei and Gaara together. Never before had she seen her brother so happy, she never thought that one weird ninja from the leaf could change him so.

"They looked good together don't they?" said Shikamaru, giggling slightly at Temari's blushing face. "I just hope that today doesn't haunt her"

"We should make camp, so that everyone can rest" said Temari. Shikamaru nodded. It was nearing nightfall and everyone was shattered, a trip to Suna in this state would only exhaust them further. When they had reached the same spot as before, everyone set up camp and climbed into bed. Sakura and Temari agreed to stay up to do the night shift whilst the others rested, however even after a long battle Gaara refused to sleep. He sat by Rei's bed watching over her, protecting her, even though they're no more enemies to defend off. He watched her chest rise and fall, her breath was heavy but was a sort of music to his ears. The rhythm it created was enough to move him into a relaxed trance. Without realising it, his body fell limp and he drifted into sleep.

**The Next Morning**

The sun was just beginning to rise, light glimmered through the grass of the forest floor and crept into Rei's tent, instead of a feeling a sharp stinging pain to the eyes, she felt a warm glow grace her bruised face. She opened her eyes to the morning glow expecting to only see the tent, but instead saw the red head, lying next to her in a peaceful dream. She smiled, and then lied back down and without realising it; she had placed herself closer to him, their faces only inches away.

_If anyone else came in they'd think I was a pervert._

But she didn't really care. She closed her eyes, absorbing the moment that they shared, wanting it to last forever. The peaceful silence of the morning, lying next to the man she…

_Is that how I really feel? Can I hold these feelings back anymore?_

She glanced down and saw Gaara's hand perching on the side of her back. She blushed as he slowly grasped her skin, gently rubbing his fingers along her top. She would have normally moved away almost instantly, but she couldn't. Something was stopping her, her heart was telling her to stay perfectly still.

_My face is like a beetroot, I'm glad he's not awake to see. I'll just go back to sleep, it's still early and he might eventually move it away._

After a while Rei managed to fall back to sleep, defying the waking feeling that the sun was imposing on her. In that time, Gaara didn't let go, he simply kept his hand there, holding onto her shirt. Rei on the other hand began to move her head closer, falling deeper into the pillow and closer to his presence. When Gaara finally rose to the sounds of someone outside the tent, his sight fell upon Rei's sleeping face, their noses were practically touching. He then noticed that his hand was clasping the side of her top.

_Why was I holding her? If anyone came in they'd think I was becoming Kankuro._

He stared at her face again, noticing the bruise that decorated her cheek. He removed his hand from her back and onto her cheek, slowly caressing it, hoping that she felt no pain from it. She winced slightly at his touch.

"Gaara" she said, still trapped in the state of dream.

Gaara was stunned.

_Is she dreaming about me?_

But before he could think further, Naruto burst into his tent.

"WAKE UP YOU 2!" shouted Naruto. When he looked down at them, he blushed at the position that they had gotten you in. Rei woke up instantly from the loud noise which was Naruto.

"Ahhh did you guys do it?" he screamed so that everyone in a 10 mile radius could hear. Rei and Gaara both blushed wildly. Gaara quickly snapped his hand away and Rei quickly shot out of her sleeping bag. The next thing Naruto knew was Rei's fist heading straight for his face. Everyone who stood outside observed him fly backward until he could be seen no more. Rei charged out of her tent like an angry bull that had been dowsed in red paint. Shikamaru shook his head.

_Naruto the idiot._

"You haven't lost any of your strength then?" said Sanchi who was snacking on a freshly cooked fish. Rei turned her head towards her pupil and grinned.

"It would take more than Naruto and 1000 angry cats to take me down!"

After 30 minutes, when the tents had come down and breakfast had been eaten, Naruto finally emerged, crawling out of the bushes like a lost hobo. Rei walked over to him and offered a helping hand.

"I'm sorry Naruto, just don't do that again" she whispered into his ear.

"Shall we head back" said Temari grinning.

"We're going back to Konoha" said Shikamaru. Everyone stared at him.

"What?" said Rei saddened by the news: "But why?"

"The councillors of your village have relieved us of duty, we all completed the mission, after this was finished we were told to head back to Konoha" explained Shikamaru.

"You don't have to go straight away, right Gaara?" pleaded Temari. Gaara nodded, hoping that they, mainly Rei would want to stay a little longer.

"I'm sorry, but we can't leave the village waiting and Rei has a mission awaiting her when she gets back" said Shikamaru.

"Already?" said Sakura," but she's still healing"

"I don't know what the mission is" said Shikamaru. Rei was sad but nodded, knowing that it was the right thing.

"I guess that this is goodbye" said Rei. Everyone went silent. Rei was particularly sad, not realising that her time with Gaara would be so short. It hit her like a pillow to the face: she may never see him again, or at least not for a long time. She gazed into his eyes, not wanting those beautiful green eyes to leave her sight.

_If I leave then I won't see him, he might forget about me. No Rei this is good! You can't have these feelings for him, he doesn't feel that way about you and besides he's the Kazekage, I doubt his council would approve, or our council and what about Matsuri? She would make him happy; she would love him like I never could. Love? Did I just say love?_

"I just want to say something" said Gaara, breaking the silence. Rei's eyes widen, her head stretched forward slightly, hanging onto the edge of his words.

"I just-I-what I want to say is…" stuttered Gaara. The others felt like they were movie goer's at the most romantic film of the year. All of them knew how they felt; even Naruto could see in Gaara's eyes what Rei had done to him. Shikamaru hide a smile that had grown from Rei's reaction. Sakura and Temari felt like weeping.

_The words won't come out, what am I trying to say?_

"…how did your sensei die?" said Gaara in defeat. Rei's jaw dropped slightly.

_What was I expecting him to say?_

Everyone else was stunned; it looked like their brains had fallen out of their heads, through their noses.

"Eh, well I suppose I can tell you, 2 of them are dead anyway. The truth is Eron and Emirata killed him. Over the years, they had come to resent him and how he treated them, they wanted to go home. Emirata drove him mad with her mind manipulation and then Eron drowned him with mud down his throat, just like how your jounin had died, it was brutal and something that he didn't deserve. He didn't realise how powerful they had become, and not until then did I realise the true depths of their feelings, but I couldn't understand. All because they wanted a normal family life, that idea was foreign to me, but I guess home wasn't what they expected it to be" said Rei.

"But you told me he died of an illness?" said Shikamaru, annoyed that his friend had kept this from him for so long.

"We all made a promise to keep it secret, we took a vow swore never to break, until now, but now they are dead and Wincho was never really involved"

"But why not tell anyone?" asked Sakura.

"What would be the point? In their eyes they had suffered enough, in mine, well I suppose I did not want to tarnish the name of Horojima, he taught me everything I knew I owed him that debt" she said. Rei then looked at Tweedledum and then to Gaara.

"I know I shouldn't ask this, but there is a mission I have yet to succeed" she then bent down to Sanchi and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"This young ninja, Tweedledum, deserves a proper home and I'm sure Goro-sama would agree with me. All the children I taught are great ninjas as you saw from this one yesterday and her accuracy in weapon throwing. They deserve to be in Suna, their true home, because I know what it's like to feel you don't belong, to feel like you'll just wander the earth because there is nowhere were you can rest your feet" Gaara saw the sadness in her eyes, and smiled. He nodded.

"I will do all that I can" he said raising his hand to shake her own. Rei blushed at the suggestive gesture. Their hands met in one swift motion; however it was not a jolly handshake, but one that danced slowly to the music of the wind. It was a sad one, which would resonate with them until the next time they met.

"Thank you, all of you, and goodbye" she said. She could feel her eyes beginning to fill, so she turned away as quickly as possible and began to walk home.

"Goodbye" he whispered hoping that it would carry through the wind. "Come Sanchi, it's time to go home"

_Sanchi?_

"Is that your name?" asked Rei. She merely smiled and ran off in the opposite direction. Everyone said their teary goodbyes and went off their separate ways.

AN: Hope you like it :D


	26. Chapter 26

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei's day is just full of distraction and most of them are from Gaara. She comes to realise the true depth of her feelings and must make a choice.

Chapter 26: Discovery

It had been a day since they had arrived back at the village. Shikamaru and Sakura missed Konoha greatly and so were very happy to see their home. Rei on the other hand didn't share in their enjoyment. She looked around at the bright colours of her home, the smiling people who walked past without a care in the world and the familiars faces that appeared every so often to say 'welcome home Rei', however she didn't feel like it was her home. It was as if she had lost something on that mission, something not easily replaced. She and Naruto had headed home together, since they lived in the same shabby block and on the way they encountered the purple eyed shinobi Hinata. As children, Hinata was one of the only people to speak to Rei, besides Naruto and Shikamaru, so Rei was glad to see her friend again after such a long time apart. However, what Rei thought would be a friendly greeting, turned into a moment that she would never forget. As she was about to embrace her friend in a long awaited hug, Naruto came hurdling in to hug Hinata first. He squeezed her sides like she was carton of juice and lifted her off the ground.

"Welcome home Naruto-kun" cried Hinata. Naruto smiled the widest smile Rei had ever seen. He pressed his nose up against Hinata's and kissed her gently on the lips. Rei watched as all the tenderness in the world could be found in one kiss. Rei found herself lost in the sight of them. She had seen people kiss before but a new light had been placed in her eyes, something inside her heart became transfixed on it. So as not to disturb them she headed on home alone.

It was now the morning after, and Rei woke up to a blue sky. She looked out of her window and was welcomed by a fresh Konoha breeze. She found it strange that she didn't have to organise her class, she thought about them, and how unorthodox they were, but also how strong they were and she suddenly became sadden that she would not see them again for quite some time. She needed to report to Tsunade for a medical check-up so she got changed and headed on her way. She had promised herself to head straight there but her feet decided to take a detour. Her mind was full of unanswered questions; it clouded her judgement and put her off her main task. As she wandered through the streets and back alleys, she began to think about Suna again; its sand covered roads and walls and how rough they felt at the touch, the people that passed in a comfortable silence, and the one man who lead this peaceful nation, the strongest and most misunderstood of them all.

_Why can't I stop thinking about him? Everything I see reminds me of him, and it's driving me crazy._

Rei had become so lost in her thought that she walked straight into a lamp post. A large red lump suddenly grew on her forehead and began throbbing in pain.

_Ow…what are you doing to me Gaara?_

She then rushed off, her brains now lead her feet and all of her attention was drawn to the hospital.

_I will make it there!_

She marched very bizarrely up the street receiving strange looks from passers-by, but she didn't care, she just had to get to the hospital.

"Rei-chan!" shouted a voice. She turned around saw Hinata running towards her.

"Hello Hinata-san, how are you?" said Rei still walking in the direction of the hospital, hoping that Hinata would get the hint and follow.

"I'm very well thank you" she replied in her soft little voice. Rei smiled, ever since she had started dating Naruto, she had come out of her shell a bit and had left her stuttering behind, but she was still as cute as ever.

"I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to talk with you yesterday" said Hinata bowing to her friend.

"I've told you before Hinata you don't have to bow to me and you don't have to apologise, not unless you set some angry fan girls on me, then I would expect an apology" said Rei, sending Hinata a reassuring grin. Hinata giggled, she'd always like how Rei was so unexpectedly weird, ever since the Hokage had told her to express her emotions through language in the form of imagery (to help her to understand them), she could never stop and eventually it became a habit.

"I like how happy you and Naruto are. It makes me smile when I think that you are not alone anymore and that all you're waiting paid off" Rei glanced towards the ground, causing her once happy smile to transform into a sad one. Hinata picked up on this quite quickly and asked Rei whether she'd want to go to the top of the stone faces to talk. Rei who had already lost all sense of focus for the hospital once again happily agreed and followed her to the top, where they sat comfortably, looking out at the horizon of the village. They sat for a while in a contented silence, enjoying the company of the other.

"Hinata, may I ask you something?" asked Rei, still looking out at the village. Hinata nodded.

"How did you know you were in love with Naruto?" Hinata was stunned, never before had Rei asked her, or anyone about the topic. Hinata just assumed that she chose to remain ignorant of it.

"Eh, well, I don't know really" answered Hinata. Rei dropped her head in disappointment. "Well you see it's not the same for every person, I have liked Naruto ever since we were children and well I suppose my love grew for him over time and I guess it still does" Rei gazed deeply into Hinata's eyes and was amazed at how Hinata's face lit when she spoke his name. She knew Hinata would never lie to her and so decided not to press the matter further, however Hinata had her own agenda.

"Why do you ask?" she asked.

"No reason"

Hinata took a deep breath.

"It's because of Gaara isn't it?" she said, looking directly at Rei. Rei's face tinted a light pink, she couldn't help but smile when she heard his name and even though she'd try and shake it off, the smile and blush was glued to her face.

"You look so happy Rei" said Hinata.

"But am I in…well you know" said Rei, not being able to bring herself to say it.

"In love?" spoke Hinata whilst giggling. Rei nodded fiercely like a small child.

"Your heart will tell you when you finally know" spoke Hinata.

"Love is made of cheese isn't it?" laughed Rei. Hinata gave her a playful hit. They once again returned to the comfortable silence allowing Rei to reflect on Hinata's words. After a while Hinata had to leave because she was meeting Naruto for lunch time ramen, so Rei headed off for the hospital again, knowing that the likelihood of being distracted again was slim…oh how wrong she was.

When she was walking down the street she noticed Lee sitting at the bar looking rather glum. For a moment Rei considered ignoring him, but she knew that if that had been her, Lee would have run over instantly to impose on her business. She walked over to the bar and placed a kind hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Lee, how are you?" she asked, taking a seat next to him. Lee looked up at her but his mood didn't change.

"I'm ok, how are you?" he replied.

"I'm pretty confused at the moment to be honest, but I will not burden you with that"

"It's about Gaara isn't it?" he said.

_How does everyone know?_

"Sakura told me" he said giggling at his friend's red face.

"Well I don't really know-"

"It is him, I can tell in your eyes" said Lee smiling gloomily.

"You haven't told her yet have you?" asked Rei realising the real reason behind is sad smile. His head fell against the table.

"No" he said in defeat. Normally she would tell him to pick his head up and move on, or pull him off his chair, shake him wildly by the shoulders and demand that he tell her, but now she could understand him. She realised how naïve she was being and she understood the truth depth of the situation and all the problems that revolved around it. She flopped her head against the table too.

"I think now I can understand how you feel Lee" she said into the table. He mumbled a response but she couldn't quite hear.

"What did you say?" she asked, picking her head up from the table like it was the heaviest thing in the world.

"You should tell him, from what Sakura says, it sounds like you are not alone in this situation" She blushed several shades of red before shaking it off and walking on.

_He wouldn't like me, there's no way he would, but what if he does?_

A whole new set of questions now roamed Rei's thoughts causing her to groan in frustration. It was now 2:00pm and she still hadn't visited Tsunade. Her mind was unrested; her feelings thrown into a chaos and all sense of focus left her, leaving her alone with the image of him smiling at her. She blushed whenever she thought about, so she basically wandered around all day with a red blush splattered on her cheeks. When she finally reached the hospital, the others had already been checked out on the all clear, Shikamaru was told to take it easy for a few days.

_I should really go and apologise to him. Maybe I'll buy him some chocolate._

She decided to run to the Hokage tower, knowing full well that Tsunade will be annoyed at her for not turning up sooner. She approached the door and knocked on it lightly, part of her was hoping that she wouldn't be there, or that she would be too drunk to realise, unfortunately for her, Shizune was in the office too and so she answered the door.

"Good afternoon Rei-san" said Shizune with a cheery smile on her face.

"Good afternoon indeed Rei" grumbled Tsunade who was sat at her desk swigging on what Rei presumed was sake. "Come sit" she gestured towards an empty chair. Rei made her way to the chair and sat down. Shizune began to examine over her wounds, starting off with the bruises on her cheeks and making her way slowly down her arms and torso. A silence showered the room for 10 minutes, Rei began to feel awkward, Tsunade couldn't normally stay this quiet for long, only when she was angry about something, but even then she was about as subtle as a rhino in a china shop.

_Today must be special._

Tsunade tried to keep her focus on the paperwork in front of her however her eyes would wander over to a grey file that sat next to her on her desk. This didn't go unnoticed by Rei. The first thing that caught Rei's attention was the big red lettering on the front reading 'Confidential.' Rei became suspicious.

_What could be in that file?_

"All done" said Shizune, a smiling appearing on her face. "Just take it easy for a few days" Rei nodded as she rose from her seat.

"Stay" said Tsunade. Rei felt like a dog, but she was used to being treated that way and she knew Tsunade meant nothing by it. Another silence grew as Tsunade stared at the grey folder. She picked it up and opened the contents.

"Only 4 people have seen inside of this folder, the 4th Hokage and me" said Tsunade. She placed it down in front of Rei. It landed with a soft thump.

"And who were the other 2?" asked Rei who was now also staring at the folder. Tsunade sucked in a deep breath.

"Sayake and Reishinji Moso, your parents"

The soft thump began to resonate in Rei's mind, her eye's grew wide but she wasn't sure why. Was she shocked? Confused? Happy? Sad?

_My name…_

"When you were born, your father insisted that part of his name be placed in yours, he was afraid that his lineage would not continue after you were born, I suppose it was a way of saving him from that sadness"

Rei's hands began to tremble.

"And what is in the folder?" she asked.

"The location of their whereabouts, all the questions that you have they can answer"

"But I didn't have those questions until now!" shouted Rei. "Why tell me! Why bother?"

Tsunade looked into her eyes and saw only confusion.

"I was content to never know, I had convinced myself ever since they day that didn't collect me that I did not need them!" But now every question possible flooded her mind.

_Who were they? Why were they selected? Why did they leave me? Was it something I did? Did they love each other...?_

"Because I felt that you were ready to know" Rei froze.

_Am I ready to know?_

Rei looked back at the folder; the grey colour was like a black hole that she had to put her hand through. She was anxious, but then something crossed her mind, something that she hadn't been thinking about for the last 15minutes.

_Gaara… I wonder he would say; what he would do…_

The trembling subsided as she touched the paper folder. She grasped it in her hands lightly and began to walk to the door.

"Rei, you have a month, you deserve a break" said Tsunade.

"May I ask you something?" asked Rei.

"Yes"

"May I-I-em- may I possibly go to Suna?" Rei's head was buried in her chest, as much as she could anyway. The blush that consumed her face was similar to the colour of a crab that had just had a hot bath. Tsunade was surprised, she smiled cheekily when she realised the reason.

"Sakura told me about your relationship was the Kazekage" Shizune giggled when she saw Rei's head shot up and around.

"How many people has she told?" cried Rei, now leaning her body against the wall. "There is no relationship, nothing happened, nothing will probably ever happen, WHY IS LIFE SPELT SO WRONG?" said Rei, desperation leaking through her voice. Shizune seemed very confused and tried to work out what Rei had meant whereas Tsunade walked up to Rei and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Go after him! If you don't do it you'll regret it forever" Rei smiled and ran off down the corridor with the file in hand.

_I don't know what to do about my parents, but I do know that I want to see Gaara. That is what my heart is saying._

She ran home as fast as her legs could take her, no one could distract her now.

**In Suna 2 days later**

It had been a while since Gaara had last seen Rei. The journey back from the battle was a quiet, but peaceful, Sanchi was happy to be going home, Temari was worried that all hell would have broken loose in Suna because Kankuro (masquerading as Gaara) was currently in charge, however Gaara could only think of Rei and of the tender moments that they shared. The thought of her looking down on him with sorrow would bring tears to his eyes, but he would never let them spill. He had to use all of his might to keep his emotions from betraying him. She had placed herself in his mind, either sleeping on his roof, or standing in his office or sitting at the dining table handing him his meal, he lost himself in it so many times that he started to question whether it was all real. Sometimes he would start smiling and a few times he even giggled, out of the silence of the desert, Gaara's chuckle echoed through the sand dunes, surprising Temari and Sanchi every time.

_He misses her…_

When they reached home: Sanchi was reunited with her classmates who were staying at a temporary hostel; Temari interrogated Kankuro as to why there were a multitude of women wandering around their house. Disguised as Gaara he had managed to throw a party with all if his fan girls including Matsuri, however this was ruined when Temari smacked him straight in the stomach, causing the transformation jutsus to vanish and his real face to emerge. Temari laughed loudly as a horde of screaming girls ran out of their house. Gaara headed up to his spot on the roof in order sink into a peaceful tranquillity, but he couldn't. His roof seemed empty; the large space that surrounded him seemed to have grown until he felt like only a speck. A part of him was missing.

_Rei…_

For the past few days he hadn't been himself, he wasn't as focused as he should have been. The only thing he could concentrate on was fulfilling his promise to Rei. During the meeting that he had called, his mind wandered out of the window, he had decided that thinking about Rei was far more interesting than thinking about the old folk that surrounded him most days.

"A sandstorm is due, reports from our scouting ninja say that there will be one today and a big one to" said Shoro. Gaara turned his head towards Shoro and nodded.

"Warn all the villagers, everyone must remain in their homes until told otherwise, you should all head homes yourselves and warn your own families, I will dispatch jounin to warn everyone else" said Gaara. After dispatching the jounin he returned home to find his siblings and Matsuri sitting on the sofa waiting for his return. They were all relieved when he walked through the door.

_For a moment there I thought he was going to lock himself in his office. The way he's been acting lately it's like he's lost his teddy bear. I didn't realise his feelings for Rei were so deep._

_Gaara-kun…_

"We heard about the sandstorm, Matsuri didn't want to be alone so I said she could stay here, is that ok?" asked Temari. Gaara nodded and sat on the available chair.

_I need to know if what Temari says is true, I need to hear it from him._

"The mission went well then?" asked Matsuri. Gaara responded again with a simple nod. "And the children are allowed to stay?"

Realising that she was trying to spark up a conversation, he turned his head away from the view of the desert and said "Yes, they will stay in the hostel under the supervision of jounin until a home can be found for them"

"Rei will be happy when she hears, it's too bad she couldn't be here to see them" Gaara's eyes dropped.

"But I'm sure she'll visit when she can" said Temari.

"Are you kidding? Rei only has eyes for her training, she probably doesn't really care" said Matsuri.

"Rei cared about those children greatly even though she didn't always show it!" cried Gaara, a blush crept across his face when he realised everyone was staring at him. "I'm sure she'll come and see them"

"She'll come and see us to!" spoke Kankuro, feeling left out of the conversation. "We all know how much she'll miss you ay Gaara" said a cheeky Kankuro poking his brother in the side. Gaara blushed at the thought.

_Could she really be missing me?_

"I'm sure she misses you greatly Gaara, I know I would" whispered Matsuri. Gaara picked up on the whisper but couldn't make out what she said. Suddenly Matsuri shot up and walked to the bathroom. Gaara stared at her face and saw a tear trickle down her cheek. He was confused and so decided to follow her. When they were out of the sight, Gaara grasped her shoulder and span her around.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm not" said Matsuri desperately trying to wipe the tears away. She started pushing the palm of her hands into her eyes however the pain caused her to cry even more. Gaara peeled her them away from her face and was shocked to see her eyes were bloodshot; it made him think of Rei's breakdown in battle. Matsuri's lip quivered at his touch, she felt all of her shame weigh her head down until it fell against Gaara's chest. The tears then poured out like an unstoppable force. He felt a bit awkward, but he thought it strange. When Rei cried, his body reacted almost instantly, but here his body stopped, his limbs froze, he didn't know what to do.

"Why are you crying?" he asked again, as sympathetically as he could in his confused state.

"Do you love her?" questioned Matsuri. She gripped onto his shirt like a pillow, however now it was Gaara's turn to tremble.

"Do you love her?" cried a desperate Matsuri. The tears poured out faster and the grip tightened, it was like she was hanging on the balance of life and death and only Gaara could save her.

_Do I love her? Is this what love feels like? _

He opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out.

"Is she your precious person? The person whom you would give all for without a second thought, the person who you want to share your life with and the only person who can bring you the most joy and the most pain, because when they're not there you feel like a part of you is missing and that pain is the worst of all, the loneliness increases and all sense of logic goes out of the window, only when that person is there does everything make sense…do you feel this way towards Rei?" Matsuri was now staring at a lost Gaara. He absorbed every word like a sponge, however unlike a sponge his mind couldn't be squeezed free of what it now contained; he was now stained with those questions until an answer could be heard.

_Rei…do I love you?_

Matsuri stepped back when she saw a blush tint his cheeks and a smile creep to his lips. She wiped her tears and smiled gently.

"I'm happy for you Gaara-kun and I hope you don't feel lonely for too much longer" She walked back into the living room, leaving Gaara confused and happy.

_I need to think about this, I need to know what I'm feeling._

Gaara strolled to the nearest window and jumped out into the sand that was now transforming into a storm.

**With Rei**

"Almost there" said Rei to herself. The sand around her that had fairly well behaved throughout most of her desert trek was now swirling around her.

_A storm could be coming, I need to hurry._

She started to run however the wind picked up pace and began to blow against her, she was now fighting the fierce rush of the wind. She seemed to be doing ok, she was still able to run but at a significantly slower place, however when the sand started to rise and hit her like small kunai, she was reduced to walking, stomping out large steps in order to keep herself ground. She created a hood with her hands over her eyes to shield them from the sand, although she was now seeing through squint vision. It felt like she had been moving for hours but it had only been for 10 minutes. When she looked out, she could see something, it was large and blended into the sandstorm, it wasn't until she concentrated her vision did she realise that it was the walls of Suna.

_Suna_

This propelled her forward, nothing would stop her now.

_It's only sand!_

She forced chakra to her feet and began to pick up pace. She placed her arms out in front of her. Even though she had managed to pick up pace, she still couldn't really see and a fear grew within her that she might run straight into the wall. Her fingers tips hit the wall of Suna, she had made it.

_Now which way do I go? I'll go right; that's what my nose is telling me anyway._

She stayed pressed against the wall, using it as a guide to find the entrance to Suna. Her hands stroked the rough sandy walls; her cheek was pressed up against it causing it to go red at the coarse feel of the wall. After a while, her hands bent round a corner and she realised she had made it to the entrance. She stepped out into Suna and although the sand was calmer because of the thick walls were defending it, it was still rough and strong and she had used up her chakra trying to run there. She took a few paces further in a scanned her surroundings, when she looked back at the wall, she realised there was figure standing on top of it.

_Who is that?_

She squinted harder, and then a flash of red come into view.

_Gaara?_

AN: Hello, I hope you like this one! Anyone who has been in love can probably relate to Rei and Gaara's troubles, especially when it's your first love. =]


	27. Chapter 27

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Rei and Gaara both realise they're in love, but aren't sure how to tell the other.

Chapter 27- Whole Again

_Gaara?_

Gaara was standing on the walls of Suna trying to defend off the sand, or that is what Rei thought. However what she couldn't know was that his mind was going through a fierce battle of its own. He was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice her presence walk into the village.

_Does he do this every time there's a sandstorm? ...No he can't do, it's too dangerous! But I suppose this is Gaara and he can control sand. But, I don't know, something doesn't seem right._

"Kazekage-sama, I may be wrong but I don't think it's wise to be standing in a sandstorm, but if you'd prefer I could get you a pair of goggles to protect your eyes" she shouted hoping that he would hear her in the noise in the storm. The sand roared around her ear drums, causing her to questions whether she heard him at all.

_I can barely hear myself!_

All of a sudden, the sand rushed past her feet affecting her balance. She stumbled in the sand but before her feet could land, the wind pushed her into the air, her body became a puppet on the wind's strings, she was moving at its will, unable to do anything about it. She caught sight of the incoming wall and was prepared for the imminent pain that would follow. When the final blow was struck, it was not the hard sand wall, but the soft arms of the Kazekage.

_I have to protect her._

She looked at his arms curled tightly around her and smiled. She then became aware of the position of his face; it was buried within the crook of her neck; his nose nuzzled her skin causing her to blush immensely. The sand that once whirled around them began to slowly die down, however the pair did not move. Gaara's grasp on Rei wasn't let slip, Rei's touch on his chest remained as it had been. It was like the pair was locked in a moment that neither of them wanted to break. The sand settled, and the pair slowly released their hands from the other and lifted their faces. They were now looking into each other's eyes; their noses were only millimetres away from touching. Gaara blushed when he realised his first instant was to move his face closer to hers, closing the gap. To his surprise a teardrop fell from his eyes and stroked his red cheeks.

"I told you, you should have worn goggles, now you've got sand in your eye" said Rei giggling.

_My heart, this feels so right._

_Why did I cry?_

"We'd best get you back inside Kazekage-sama; you've had enough fun outside for one day"

_Maybe I know now, for sure… Now how do I tell her?_

_But how am I supposed to tell him?_

They got up when they realised that the sounds of people were drawing near. Gaara looked at Rei and motioned his hand to her. The blush on her face grew stronger; she raised her hand slowly and gently placed it in his. Suddenly sand swirled around them again, but this time it didn't batter against her skin like angry fists, they were transported through the air and onto the roof of the tower. Rei gazed out at Suna and her heart lifted. The beautiful sand dunes that almost sparkled in the sunlight, her eyes soften at the dazzling sight and her heart began to melt, but not just at the view, at the tender hand that was still embracing her own. Gaara wasn't looking at the view, he was enraptured by the sight of Rei and how her features shone against the sun's backdrop. He glanced down at their hands entwined with each other and smiled.

_Never before have I felt this way about anyone. She is my heart's medicine, my precious person and I will hold onto this moment for as long as I can. What Matsuri said, it was all true. Did she really come back for me though?_

"So, what made you come back?" asked Gaara. Rei's eyes shot up, her hand became limp dropping Gaara's hand. Sadness hit him.

_It's like I want to hold her forever._

_Should I just say: "I came back because I missed you!", "I'm sorry for imposing but I think my heart is drawn to you like a bee is to the flower" Oh god, I've suddenly become a poet._

"Em, well I- you see the thing is- em, the truth is- well- what I want to say is" she looked up. "I wanted to see how the children were getting on" asked Rei. Gaara faced dropped in disappointment. His face then returned to the usual seriousness that it often reflected.

"Oh, yes they are doing fine. I kept my promise, the only thing left to do is to arrange where they will be staying" answered Gaara looking out into the horizon.

"I knew you would" said Rei smiling.

"Will you be leaving after you have seen them?" asked Gaara.

"Depends if I complete my other mission"

_A mission of the heart, how corny. _

She smiled cheekily which confused Gaara.

"Temari and Kankuro will be glad to see you"

"Are you glad to see me?" asked Rei. If Rei could see herself at this moment, she would have been slapping herself around the face for asking such a question. Sweat began to run down her brow.

_How could I be so open! I can't control myself!_

Gaara was surprised but smiled.

"Of course"

_More than anyone._

"Well I'm glad to see you to" said Rei; she then laughed loudly trying to use it as a cover to hide the blush that was plastered on her face. She grabbed his hand and ran towards his home. "Well let's not waste time then"

**With Temari and Kankuro**

"Why did Matsuri leave so quickly? I would have thought she'd have wanted to wait for Gaara"

"Because you don't understand women, that's why" answered Temari, sending her brother a sarcastic smirk.

"Hey! I think you'll find that the ladies can't resist my manliness" said Kankuro slouching himself further into the sofa as if he was king of the world.

"I didn't realise macho men wore purple makeup" said Temari. Kankuro then continued to slide onto the floor in embarrassment and defeat. At that moment Rei barged into the room.

"Hello everyone!" she cried as if she had just won an award.

"Rei, what are you doing here?" asked Temari. She smiled when she noticed that Rei and her younger brother were holding hands. Temari squealed loudly like a little girl.

_They finally did it! They told each other!_

"I'm so happy for you!" she shouted as she leapt towards the 'couple'. "So, tell me everything, where did it happen? What did he say? What did you say? Have kissed yet? Are you now both officially for the world to see in lo-" she Temari at 100miles per hour. Luckily for Rei she had managed to catch on and was able to place her free hand over Temari's mouth. She shook her head to the side slightly which confused Temari. Temari's eyes then fell on their hands that were still touching. Rei blushed and pulled her hand away.

"I need to talk to you" said Rei tugging Temari out of the room. The men that were left standing were as confused as ever. Gaara looked down at his empty hand and suddenly felt very lonely even with his stupid brother in the room.

_Couldn't you have kept holding onto it? I have to tell her soon, I don't want to feel lonely._

Temari and Rei had gone into Temari's bedroom and were now sitting on her bed.

"When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know how" said Rei, "besides there are other things to consider"

"Look, there's nothing to consider, this isn't a ninja mission, you just have to say what lies deep within your heart" said Temari taking on the role as the love doctor in this situation.

"So I just march up to him, and tell him that I think about him more than I've thought about anyone before, that being with him is the only time I've ever felt truly at home like I belong with him and that I feel so god dam lonely when he's not there, that I would burn this folder and never see my parents again if it meant that I could spend every day with him, I love him so much why is this so difficult?" she shouted pulling at braces in anger. Temari's jaw dropped onto the bed.

_Oh my god, I just said love, I said it, ha! I actually said it! I know now, that's exactly what I've got to do!_

"Your parents?" asked Temari. Rei chucked the folder onto the bed and stepped towards the window.

"In that folder is the location of my parents, I've got a month to find them if I want to, I was going to ask Gaara for his opinion, well that's what got me out here anyway"

"What are you going to do?" asked Temari as she examined over the folder.

Rei wasn't the romantic sort, so thinking of ways to tell him was near enough impossible and with the possibility of finding her parents at the back of her mind, the situation became (in the words of Shikamaru) more troublesome.

"I don't know; I'm not even sure if I want to see them. All can think about is Gaara, at the moment, seeing him is more important than seeing them" answered Rei, Temari smiled softly.

"But don't you want a family?" asked Temari.

"In all honesty, no. I've never desired one, even when I was a child living in Konoha, I never envied children for having them, and I suppose I saw them as more of a burden because I couldn't understand the love between siblings and parents." said Rei, taking the folder out of Temari's hand. "Although, I can't just simply throw this away, I could burn it very easily in the palm of my hand and never see them at all, but something is holding me back, something inside wants to know the truth"

"I think you've just found your solution" said Temari smiling once again. She turned towards the door and strolled towards it. "Oh by the way, if you don't tell Gaara soon then I will" said Temari with an evil smile of her face. But before Rei could respond, Temari slammed the door shut, leaving Rei with her mouth hung open like a horse.

**In the living room**

"What were you two talking about?" inquired Gaara.

"Just girls talk" Temari replied. She turned her head round and noticed that Rei hadn't followed her.

_Good, now I can interrogate by brother. I just hope Kankuro doesn't start acting like an idiot._

"So, Gaara" said Temari. She knew that she had to tread carefully, Gaara wouldn't show it but his mind could snap at any moment. "It's good to see Rei again isn't it?" Gaara nodded with his usual stoic face. "She told me that she has a month before she has to go back to Konoha" Gaara eyes lit up slightly, if Temari hadn't been concentrating on his expressions she wouldn't have noticed.

"When did Matsuri leave?" asked Gaara to Temari's surprise.

"As soon as the sandstorm had died down"

"And how was she?"

"She seemed ok, it was clear that she was upset but she seemed strong" answered Temari. She tilted her head a little so try and work out her brother's emotion, but to no avail. Gaara stood from his seat and headed for the door.

"Tell Rei to make herself comfortable and that she may see the children tomorrow" said Gaara before walking out of the door.

"When is he going to tell her!" shouted Temari whilst pulling at her hair. At that moment Rei walked in and was upset to find that the red head had already left without saying goodbye.

**The Next Day**

Rei told herself not to, but she did anyway…she went to Gaara's office.

_I don't want to end up like Matsuri! All I'm going to do is ask him about the children…yes that's right! … Oh who are you kidding Rei? You really just want to see him!_

She knocked gently on his office door and strolled in.

"Good morning Gaara" she said. Gaara looked up from his paperwork and smiled.

"Good morning" he said. Rei with a light pink tint on her face smiled back. She looked into his green teal eyes, and then over his soft pale skin…

_God I blush just looking at him! How have I not noticed how handsome he is, no wonder Matsuri liked him as much as she did, maybe I could tell him now, we are alone…_

"Gaara there's something I want to-"

"You wish to see the children, they are staying in this hostel" said Gaara handing her a piece of paper.

"Oh, right, yes, thank you" she said bowing to him. She observed him as he continued to do is paperwork.

"Well I'll leave you to your paperwork, sorry to have disturbed you" she said turning away feeling blue.

"You're never a disturbance Rei, more of a friendly interruption" he said.

Rei's blue feeling suddenly turned into a bright pink one. She smiled widely and began to laugh.

_He remembered the conversation we had._

Gaara looked into her eyes and noticed small water drops forming in her eyes.

_Is she going to cry?_

He rose from his seat and walked towards her. A gentle hand touched Rei's shoulder, the other rose to stroke her cheek. Rei's blushed deepened but couldn't move her body away from him, not that she wanted to.

"Are you sad Rei?" he asked worry emitting from his eyes.

"Oh no, it's just that I'm happy" she replied, her smile grew wider. Her hand touched his wrist and pulled his hand down away from face.

"If you keep your hand there much longer I won't know what to do with myself" she said nervously, however her blush expanded when she realised that she had said that out loud, drops of sweat ran down her cheek at an unusual speed. Gaara became confused.

_What is wrong with me! My mouth is running away from my head?_

_What did she mean by that?_

She quickly turned herself away and wiped her face dry.

"What I meant to say was…eh… why are the children staying in a hostel?" she said quickly trying to recover from the embarrassment. Luckily for her Gaara turned back to his desk.

"Because their old home was destroyed and the council do not want them here so it's taking more time than necessary" he said with an annoyed voice. Once Rei had composed herself she walked towards him.

"It's ok, I know you're doing all you can" she said, trying to ease his annoyance. "But why don't you just rebuild it?"

"The council says that it would cost too much to rebuild and they are unwilling to give the money, saying that it will go for better use somewhere else" said Gaara, his hand turned into a fist, it squeezed tighter with every word. Rei contemplated what Gaara said.

_I suppose money is an issue in most villages and I doubt anyone here would be willing to do it for free?...Wait a minute!_

"What if I fix the building?" shouted Rei turning Gaara's irritation into sheer confusion. "Think about it, I've got a month off so I could stay here and fix it, I'm sure that the kids would help when they can and that would mean I could stay and see you- I mean see everyone…everyday! And you wouldn't have to pay me!"

Gaara thought about it for a few moments, wondering whether she was just too caring or mad.

_But at least if she stayed then I could see her, the at least I would have the courage to tell her._

"Ok, but I'll have to talk to the council first, go and enjoy your day" he said.

Rei wide smile returned as she rushed out of the door.

"Thank you Gaara-kun!" she bellowed down the halls of the tower.

_Gaara-kun?... I like that._

AN: Hey sorry this chapter has taken so long, but I had difficulty writing. It is my sad duty to inform you that the next chapter will be the last. When I think about it, it makes me sad In a weird way it feels like the end of an era. Anyway, the next chapter will be up soon, that I promise!


	28. Chapter 28

Sand In Your Eye (Full Story)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

Summary: A month in Suna and Rei and Gaara still haven't been able to tell each other. When Rei has only one week left she realises that she is running out of time. Another issue arises when Gaara finds the folder in Rei's room and tells her something that she wasn't expecting. Will they tell each other or is it forever to remain a secret?

Chapter 28: The Truth Is Out!

When Rei finally met the children, she wasn't expecting it to be so emotional, even Mei and Rinkato where there. She didn't expect their smiling faces to bring her heart so much joy; it felt like it was singing the happiest tune in the world and not caring who heard. Darui and the girls embraced in a hug whereas the others merely shook her hand instead because they were too cool for hugs; however Rei decided they weren't too cool for hugs so she lunged towards them, squeezing them tight in her arms. Rinkato, Fari and Keno all blushed wildly. When it came to Sanchi, Rei held her lightly in her arms, as if hugging a younger sister. Sanchi's body tensed up for a moment, surprised at the open gesture, however she relaxed into it realising that she too had missed her sensei, although she had to send a death glare to the boys to stop them from giggling. Rei had grown very protective over her, over all of them.

They spent the whole day together; Rei even brought them a cupcake each. They wandered freely around Suna, and didn't care that they still received angry looks from passers-by. They roamed every street and alley, climbed up all walls, the girls even began to skip down the main high street (except Sanchi) Rei giggled at their beautiful innocence that emitted from their smiling faces. Mei than skipped up to Rei and pulled her hand along whilst skipped. Rei was shocked but began to skip with her anyway. The other students laughed loudly which caused Rei to blush, although once she had issued a challenge that whoever could skip the fastest could decide where they went next, all of them were skipping up the street. Rei didn't feel embarrassed anymore.

_I feel like a frolicking horse!_

The joy and happiness that had flowed through their day continued until it had reached the middle of the afternoon. They had moved round the whole of the Suna that they were bond to come across their old home. They stood outside the burnt building staring up at the ruins. It hadn't changed since Rei had last been there.

"They want to knock it down" said Sanchi walking over to building. She stepped through a gap in the wall and stared down at a spot in the corner. Rei and the other children followed her inside and began to explore their once home.

"I use to sleep here, with a blanket and a pillow" stated Sanchi. Rei watched as Sanchi bent down and picked up a piece of burnt material. "My blue blanket, the only thing I had of my mother's" Rei wandered over to her and placed a sympathetic hand on her back.

"I'm sorry Sanchi" she said.

"It's ok, I didn't really know my mother anyway, and she died when I was a baby, it was just nice to have a piece of her with me"

Rei watched Sanchi stroke the material with her fingers as if caressing it better.

_So, she would want to know her mother if she could…_

"Where did your father sleep?" asked Rei, trying to change the subject.

"Upstairs, that's where most of the parents slept because there were beds up their" Rei looked towards the opposite corner and saw the remnants of a set of wooden stairs. "And where is he now?"

"In the small town we were moved to, all of the parents are. If they came back then the money they are receiving from the council would stop and they would be poor again. The council aren't giving us a place to stay, they're going to move us back as soon as you leave" Rei looked towards the other children whose heads all dropped at the same time.

"Everyone, come here, I have something to tell you" The children seemed muddled but motioned towards her anyway. "Firstly, you don't have to worry about going back to that town, I know that the Kazekage won't allow it" At that moment Sanchi chuckled, causing Rei to blush whilst sending her a death glare. Even Sanchi could see the feelings Rei held for the Kazekage. "Secondly, I am staying here for a month and if you would like, I have offered to rebuild this place, free of charge so as you have somewhere to stay again" Their eyes lit up and their smiles grew like delicate roses.

"Thank you" they all cried, they all jumped on Rei and squeezed tightly. She had saved them, and for that they were eternally grateful.

**Over the next month**

Over the next 3 weeks, Rei spent nearly all of her time at the soon-to-be home of her pupils; she would even sleep their some nights. With time running against her, she had no time to waste. She had drawn up the plans with her students making sure they got what they wanted and then ran it by some jounin that were assigned to help her. At first the jounin were incredibly unhelpful and worked at the pace of snails, however Rei didn't let it get to her and continued to do the best she could. Over the weeks the jounin saw how strong her focus and dedication was, they saw her stay until the moon had reached its peak in the sky, they would arrive and her hands would already by stained with marks of hard work, and so eventually they started working quicker and even began to see her as more of a comrade rather than a nuisance. The children had finally been integrated with another class so they weren't able to help out as much as they liked, however they did what they could whilst still training. At moments Rei would worry whether she would be there to see the finished project, knowing that the chance of them concluding before she had to leave was slim. But to Rei's surprise, more and more people came out to assist her, not just jounin but regular villagers too. Rei had created such a ruckus that news spread of what she was doing throughout the village and everyone wanted to see and assist. This made Rei very happy, never before had she had such an impact on people, beforehand her existence only mattered for the success of a mission, but now, young children looked up to her with admiration, adults shook her hand with respect even the councils were impressed with what she was doing. She was no longer 'the outsider'; she was now ninja who had offered a hand when others wouldn't. But out all this respect, there was one man who she didn't see much of…Gaara. Throughout the weeks she had met up with him for quick lunches, she had popped into his office to keep him updated on the building works and whenever she decided to sleep under the stars, or more specifically, under the cold stone of the half-build shelter, he would come and sleep next to her or watch over her. They were the most pleasant evenings: sitting under the stars on the new roof tiles, the smell of fresh cement still lingering in the air, together they would enjoy a cold meal made by Gaara himself, nothing fancy, just simple noodles or ramen. However, it still wasn't enough. Rei missed him more and more every day. Whenever she was near him, she wanted to explode with joy but something would always stop her. She craved to stand on rooftops and sing out loud, to let the whole of Suna know that she had fallen in love with their Kazekage. But when she tried, even in the moments that seemed most perfect, the words could not reach her. The weeks flew by and all of a sudden, only 1 remained. The home that she had been working on relentlessly was close to finishing, but she would not see the final image because the interior work still needed doing, but she didn't mind. This gave her an excuse to come back in a few weeks.

It was 9:00pm in the evening and she was the last one at the building site. The others had offered to stay, nevertheless Rei told them to go home to their families. It didn't take much persuasion for them to pack up their things and go, leaving Rei alone. She didn't have anyone to go home to…not really. Sure, Temari, Gaara and Kankuro waited up for her some nights and when they weren't a dinner was awaiting her return instead which she appreciated greatly, however, there was something missing. She couldn't explain it, but something had changed. Whenever she would go to bed, she'd pull the folder out from under her pillow and stare at it for hours on end: her parents. That idea wouldn't leave her mind; it lingered like a bad smell.

_Do I need to know them? Everyone else, they adore their families and would give their lives for them. But they have had them from the beginning, whereas mine didn't want me, but then why would they leave me their location? …would they expect me to jump at the opportunity? No, maybe they're just being nice, maybe it was to make them feel better…So why do I still want to know?_

She gazed up at the stars; they were like small holes in the sky, glimmers of something much bigger.

_I wonder what they're doing now, I wonder if they are like me. Do I look like my mother or my father? Do I have any siblings? The village is only a day away from here. But Gaara…I don't want to leave him and I haven't even told him how I feel. ARGH! Why does something always have to be in the way? He's so handsome…I don't deserve someone like that._

Before another thought could cross her mind, she felt a presence behind her, and one she knew too well.

"Gaara-kun" said Rei, looking down at the smiling red head.

"Good evening Rei-chan" he said. "Are you going to come down?"

Rei looked up and pretended to think really hard.

"No" she replied. "I like the roof" Gaara's smile widened.

_Just what I expect…maybe now is the time._

In a flash he was on the roof, taking his seat next to her. He stared at her face and saw the remnants of a hard day's work.

_I need to ask her._

He scooted his body closer to his as subtly as he could; however Rei was just as watchful of him as he was of her. She blushed and turned her face away slowly.

"Rei…" he said. He glanced down at her burning red cheeks. Not even the darkness could cover the colour now decorating her face. He saw how beautiful she was, and now he had cheeks of red to.

"Rei…" he said again, realising he was being easily distracted by her blushing face. He swallowed hard, what he was going to ask wasn't simple and he feared at her reaction. She slowly turned her face back towards his. Now they were only an inch apart.

_Is he going to say it…should I?_

_Maybe I should ask her later, all I want to do now is kiss her. Her lips, so red._

"Rei…" he leaned his face in closer.

"Yes..." she asked in a scarcely audible voice. She found that her voice was being lost by the second. Her anxiety and excitement seemed to have melted it away. But it was short lived.

"Are you going to find them?" he had let it slip, and the moment was gone.

"What?" spoke Rei, pulling her face away from his.

"I saw the folder in your room. Are you going to find them?"

Rei was shocked, her lips began to quiver.

"I don't know" She looked down in shame; she knew Gaara would want to know his mother and father if he could. She then began to giggle to Gaara's surprise. "You know, the reason I told the Hokage that I was coming here was because I wanted your advice, and I never asked for it"

She looked deep into his eyes to try and find the she had been looking for. Gaara stood up and began to walk away.

_I'm doing this for you Rei, so you can get the best out of life._

"You may choose not to see them, but now you know that they are there, there will be something missing from your life forever. Medicine for the heart comes in many forms, without Temari and Kankuro here, I don't know if I would be the man I am today"

He was then gone, leaving Rei alone again.

**The Next Morning**

The sun was slowly rising over the planes of sand, leaving a pink and orange glow over the desert morning. A beautiful hush filled Suna. The only person moving was Rei, who had packed up her things and was ready to leave.

_If I leave now I should arrive just before sundown._

It was early, and no one had arisen from their sleep. Rei herself hadn't got much sleep; she had spent the whole night contemplating today's action and whether she was doing the right thing or not. As she closed the door of her bedroom for the last time, she looked back at the door of Gaara's room.

_I guess I'll never be able to tell you Gaara, I hope you find someone more suited and less weird. _

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a note. She crept to his door slowly and slipped it under the door. A tear split down her cheek, it was time for her to leave.

_Goodbye…_

Then she left, leaving nothing but the sounds of a shutting door. She wanted to race to the entrance as fast as she could but found herself going more slowly with every step. She shook her head wildly.

_Stop it Rei! You'll be here soon, again, not for a while, but soon and…oh, I'm going to miss this place._

After a while she had made it to the entrance. She looked up and was surprised to not see the guards at their usual posts. But the thought quickly left as she walked out into the desert. She turned her head round one last time and felt more tears fall down her cheek and stain the desert floor.

_I'm more composed than this! I'm just glad no one's around to see._

She suddenly felt a hand touch her shoulder which made her jump. Her fist, on its own accord headed straight for the person's face; however he was fully aware of her reactions and caught it with ease.

"G-Gaara! What are you doing here?" she cried.

"You didn't think you could leave without saying goodbye could you?" he replied, lowering her fist to the ground, although when it had reached its spot, he didn't let go of her hand. For a moment, they stood in an awkward silence. Neither sure what to say to the other.

"Eh, I need to go, so goodbye" she said not able to meet his gaze. She pushed past his shoulder but was immediately stopped by Gaara hands clasping tightly onto hers. She tried to hide away from his view but the tears would not be invisible to his eyes.

"Rei, why-"

"Because I'm going to miss you and it's to dam difficult saying goodbye because I don't want to!" she cried out loud. Gaara blushed and released her hand. He observed the tears stream down her face and felt his heart drop below his feet. He stepped forward and carefully wrapped his arms around her waist, letting her cry into his shoulder. He leaned his cheek against hers, sharing the tears that she shed. Rei was shocked at the loving gesture, but sunk her body into his arms anyway. He gently rocked her body to the music of the wind to try and calm her down. Gradually, Rei's breathe returned to its normal pace, and the tears began to dry away. Rei's head curved towards his so their lips were centimetres away from each other. They gazed into each other's eyes and smiles began to form on their faces.

"Gaara…" whispered Rei, "there's something I want to say, before I go"

_This is it…_

"Gaara I-I" Rei bite her lip. She looked into his eyes which seemed like they were on edge. She realised that she was the girl who took the plunge; she was now drowning in his eyes, and willingly doing so. Instead of carrying on with what she said, she did something unexpected, that neither of them would forget.

She kissed him.

It was soft and tender. Their lips graced each other's and at first neither knew what to do, however nature came into play and the kiss slowly deepened. Their lips slowly caressed each other in this short moment of passion. Every ounce of love Rei felt, she gave to him. Gaara hands rose to Rei's face and cupped it lightly. Every part of his being, he was willing to give to her. All time had stopped for them, so that they could enjoy this moment forever. When they finally broke apart, they both released a small breathe.

"I love you"

"I love you to"

"We'll be together again soon"

"Promise you'll wait for me?"

"I'd wait forever for you"

They embraced once more before Rei left.

**At the Moso household**

It was the day after her passionate moment with Gaara and the blushed whenever she would think about it, which was most of the time. It hadn't taken too long to discover which house belonged to her parents, the village was small and everyone seemed to know everyone. As she approached the door, she became anxious. Her body hesitated, however her mind willed her forwards.

_I'm here now, and I'm going to do this._

She reached the door and was about to knock, when suddenly she heard the sounds of laughter. She headed towards the window and peered inside. A little girl stumbled into her view; she was about 4 years old and was wearing a pair of blue dungarees and a white top. She was giggling the cutest giggle Rei had ever heard, but what shocked Rei the most at how similar the girl looked like to her. Her hair was dark brown and down up in a ponytail and her eyes were chocolate brown.

"Reiyake" shouted a woman from another room. Then the woman strolled into the room, she had long brown hair and brown eyes also.

_I look like my mother…_

"You silly girl, what are you doing?" she said crawling down next to her daughter. She then picked her up into her arms, causing the young girl to giggle loudly.

"Sayake?" spoke a man entering from a different room. He looked down at his giggling wife and daughter and grinned before diving down next to them to join the laughing duo. Rei was surprised when she found herself smiling at the situation before him.

They all enjoyed 10minutes of tickling each other and laughing before the young girl pointed towards the window. Rei became scared and stepped away from it. She then began to walk away quickly when she realised that someone was headed towards the door. Suddenly a man appeared at the door, with his wife and daughter in tow. They looked down at his garden and noticed a piece of paper gracing his lawn, when he noticed him and his wife's names where on it he called out to Rei in anger.

"Excuse me; I believe you've dropped something"

Rei stopped dead in her tracks. She dug her hand into her pocket and noticed that the information form from the folder was gone.

_Bugger_

I don't need that anymore" she said however the man ran towards her and grabbed her wrist.

"Where you going to hurt my family?" he asked in annoyance. His grip on Rei's wrist tightened.

"Trust me, if I was going to do that I would have done it already" she said in a serious tone, causing the man to loosen his grip on her.

"Who are you?" he asked, stepping back from Rei to get a good look at her. Rei considered running away and never returning again, but a deep breath in told her to stay. She turned around slowly with her head held high.

"I'm a stranger just passing by" she said. The man looked into her eyes and was suddenly shaking, but before he could say or do anything Rei took the piece of paper from his hand and ripped it up.

"Don't worry, your family aren't in danger" stated Rei. "You have a happy daughter, look after her and thank you, now I see the truth" said Rei smiling at the man before her.

Rei then walked away, promising to herself to never return to this home again.

_I have no right to ruin the happiness they have created, they came here to start a new life, and that little girl will have all the love and attention that she deserves, she will live the life I should have lived. _

**A look into the future**

Rei returned to Konoha and continued her normal life as a ninja. The relationship with Gaara and herself managed to remain a secret until Gaara had made the mistake of telling Naruto on a visit to Suna, so everyone soon found out…including the council. They weren't too happy about it but seeing their Kazekage so happy whenever Rei visited lifted even their old hearts and they soon warmed to the idea. Rei and Gaara would visit each other as much as they could, however because Gaara was the Kazekage, Rei did most the travelling, but she didn't mind. This gave her a chance to look over her student's progress. A few months after her return to Konoha they had all become genin and Darui was well on his way to becoming a medical ninja. Rei sent them a letter saying that when they were ready for the chuunin exams that she would be here supporting them on.

After countless missions and near death experiences she had finally become a member of the anbu black op at the age of 20, although this meant that she wouldn't be able to see Gaara as much as she got used to it, and Gaara was happy for her and encouraged her to follow her dream. It was during this time that her family had moved back to Konoha, to rekindle the lost bond that they once had for Rei. It was a tough transition for Rei, but one she was glad to have experienced. In time she was able to call her parents, mother and father and got used to having a younger sister around, in fact she came to love it, even though she found it hard to think of her as her younger sister, however she did become rather protective of her.

On her given holidays, she would always go to Suna to see Gaara, always having to check whether he was still in love with her, which he was. Gaara believed that he had found his soul mate in life, and he promised to never let her go. Gaara had always wanted Rei to move to Suna and live with him, but he never had to the courage to ask. It wasn't until they had become 22 when Rei realised that her feet were sore enough from the constant travelling to Suna, so she applied for a transfer which the Hokage agreed.

Rei misses her friends and even her family, but especially Shikamaru however because he had fallen for Temari she got to see him more than anyone else which made her happy. And even though she did miss everyone, being able to wake up next to Gaara each morning, and for his face to be the last she saw each night made her all the more happier. Every day she fell deeper in love with him, and it was a process she wouldn't stop for the world.

The End

AN: Thank you all so much for reading my story :D I hope you all like the last chapter and I will be writing more but just not yet. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this story and am said to see it come to a close. It has been a wonderful learning curve and one I am glad to have experienced. All of your comments have been wonderful and brought a smile upon my face. So THANK YOU! :D xxx


End file.
